Jakarta. The plenary session of the House of Representatives on Tuesday approved granting two Duct footballers Calvin Ronald Verdonk and Jens Raven Indonesian citizenship, paving their way to join the national team in the foreseeable future.

Their arrival adds to the number of naturalized players enough to form a full team.

Separate hearings by related House commissions have earlier agreed to award the two Dutchmen Indonesian citizenship, citing their football skill and Indonesian roots.

House Speaker Puan Maharani led Tuesday’s plenary session and threw the particular question to lawmakers.

“Regarding the request to grant Indonesian citizenship to Mr. Calvin Ronald Verdonk and Mr. Jens Raven, do you agree?” Puan asked, and all participating lawmakers immediately replied in chorus: “Agree!”

“Now the procedures for the naturalization citizenship of Mr. Verdonk and Mr. Raven can proceed according to existing regulations,” Puan said, slamming the gavel.

The plenary session was attended in person by 119 lawmakers while 172 others were following remotely, meaning that the quorum is met in the 575-member lower chamber of the parliament.

Verdonk, 27, currently plays for NEC Nijmegen as a defender while Raven, 18, is the forwarder of the U-21 squad of FC Dordrecht.

On Monday, Verdonk attended a House hearing with a team of the Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry while Raven also followed via video conference from Paris to discuss their citizenship requests.

“Once we arrived here, we immediately felt like home with so many fans welcoming us,” Raven told the hearing.

After the House approval, they will take oath as Indonesian citizens and follow administrative procedures to obtain Indonesian ID cards and passports.

Indonesia will play Iraq for the World Cup qualifying in Jakarta on Thursday and face off against the Philippines five days later. A win from either match will secure the ticket for the third round.

Indonesia has already recruited 11 naturalized players, mostly from the Netherlands. They include Maarten Paes (goalkeeper), Elkan Baggott, Marc Klok, Jordi Amat, Sandy Walsh, Shayne Pattynama, Ivar Jenner, Rafael Struick, Justin Hubner, Jay Idzes and Nathan Tjoe-A-On.

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