How to cite:
Muhammad Zulhidayat, Atma Suganda, Imran Bukhari Razif. (2022).
Political Law of The Government in A Special Naturalization of
Indonesian Football Players Based on Walfare State Theory. Journal
Eduvest. Vol (2): 622-629
E-ISSN:
2775-3727
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Eduvest(–(Journal(of(Universal(Studies(
Volume(2(Number(4,(April,(2022(
p-(ISSN(2775-3735-(e-ISSN(2775-3727!
POLITICAL LAW OF THE GOVERNMENT IN A SPECIAL
NATURALIZATION OF INDONESIAN FOOTBALL PLAYERS
BASED ON WALFARE STATE THEORY
Muhammad!Zulhidayat,!Atma!Suganda,!Imran!Bukhari!Razif
!
Jayabaya!University!of!Jakarta,!Indonesia!
Email:[email protected],[email protected],!
ARTICLE!INFO!!!!!!!!ABSTRACT!
Received:
March, 26
th
2022
Revised:
April, 16
th
2022
Approved:
April, 17
th
2022
!
!
!
The naturalization process itself is known in Law no. 12 of 2006
concerning Citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia,
naturalization is divided into two, namely ordinary
naturalization and special naturalization, ordinary
naturalization is sufficient to meet the administrative
requirements stipulated by law, while special naturalization
must obtain the consideration of the House of Representatives
before obtaining citizenship. The thing that needs to be
observed in this special naturalization process is that someone
who wants to be naturalized must first have service to the
Indonesian nation, the anomaly that is happening at this time
is that the government allows naturalization policies without
considering the interests of the state, but for the interests of
clubs playing in Indonesian leagues. . Therefore, this study
takes the formulation of the problem, how is the legal politics
of the special naturalization policy for football players in
Indonesia in terms of Law no. 12 of 2006 concerning
Citizenship? In this study, the research method is normative
juridical. The conclusion in this study is that the current
naturalization policy is contrary to the constitutional mandate,
especially in Article 20 of Law No. 12 of 2006 concerning
citizenship, by facilitating the naturalization process, making
naturalization players filled with players who are of old age
and cannot contribute to the Indonesian national team for a
long time.
!
Muhammad!Zulhidayat,!Atma!Suganda,!Imran!Bukhari!Razif!
Political Law of The Government in A Special Naturalization of Indonesian Football
Players Based on Walfare State Theory 623
KEYWORDS!
Political!Law,!Naturalization!Policy,!Football!Players!
!
This! work! is! l i cen sed ! under! a! Creative! Commons!
Attribution-ShareAlike!4.0!International!
INTRODUCTION
If analyzed further, the Indonesian state adheres to the concept of a welfare state,
this can be seen from the prominent role of the government in managing the country for
the welfare of its people, this can also be seen in the goals of the Indonesian state which
are written explicitly in the Act. The 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia
(hereinafter referred to as the 1945 Constitution) which explains that one of the goals of
the Indonesian nation is to promote general welfare. broad groups (Bo Soderten, 2004).
The state must also be able to support welfare through upholding the law and ensuring the
purpose of the law itself (Husen, 2019)
The welfare state has a basic concept that the state must be placed in every aspect of
people's lives so that it can realize social justice for all Indonesian people as stated in the
5th principle of Pancasila. Furthermore, the state must maintain all its assets and wealth to
be managed properly and not taken by other countries, this is as referred to in Article 33
paragraph 3 of the 1994 Constitution. The government as a representative of the state must
take this role so that the sovereign data state is intact and runs smoothly good. One of the
qualifications of developed countries is that the development and infrastructure of their
countries are more advanced and this has a positive impact on the standard of living of their
people so that community welfare can be realized, including in the field of sports.
Welfare in a special form in the field of sports is also part of the state's function as
enshrined in the 1945 Constitution. As we all understand, sport is a dimension that is always
closely related to the state. Even sport becomes a pride for a country if it has achievements
in the international world, in order to achieve sports achievements in a country of course it
is necessary to have laws made by the state in this case the executive and legislative bodies
so that these goals can be achieved. Sports must have an umbrella act in order to run well.
Indonesia is a country that adheres to the rule of law, meaning that every policy must be
based on applicable written law, it is not justified to make a policy that deviates from the
law itself (Kristiawan, 2014). Aspects of sports that intersect with the state and law are
quite numerous and clearly visible, one of which is regarding the rules regarding citizenship
or commonly known as the term naturalization of sports athletes.
The issue of citizenship is a real problem in a country, because the rights and
obligations of a newborn baby are also closely related to citizenship (Isharyanto, 2021).
Naturalization is a method used to achieve sports achievements instantly. The
naturalization process itself is known in the Indonesian constitution along with the issuance
of Law no. 12 of 2006 concerning Citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia (hereinafter
referred to as Law 12/2006). Law 12/2006 is the implementation of Article 26 paragraph
(3) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia (UUD NRI 1945) which mandates
that matters concerning citizens and residents be regulated by law. In Article 28D paragraph
(4) of the 1945 Constitution, it is also expressly stated that, “everyone has the right to
citizenship status". As an implementation of Law 12/2006. The government has also
stipulated Government Regulation no. 2 of 2007 concerning Procedures for Obtaining,
Losing, Canceling, and Regaining Indonesian Citizenship (PP 2/2007). PP 2/2007 further
explains the legal aspects of citizenship which in addition to containing the formal aspects
of the state administration also contain aspects of administrative law which regulates the
Eduvest – Journal of Universal Studies
Volume 2 Number 4, April 2022
624 http://eduvest.greenvest.co.id
procedures and procedures related to citizenship. As a state of law, of course, it must have
a duty to serve the needs of its people, including sports (Qamar et al., 2018).
Various countries have done the same way in obtaining achievements in the field of
sports. Countries on the European continent which are famous for their sports achievements
also do not escape the naturalization of players for the realization of various achievements.
For example, the country of France, they managed to win the 2018 World Cup by filling
their squad with naturalized players. Call it N'golo Kante, Samuel Umtiti, Benjamin
Mendy, Paul Pogba, Presnel Kimpembe, Steve Mandanda, Djibril Sidibe, Thomas Lemar
and so on are players who came from the African continent and became immigrants in
France. The results of the many players descended from immigrants from the African
continent who became French citizens can in fact boost France's achievements at the 2018
World Cup. Les Blues managed to win prestigious trophy which is held every 4 years.
The same process also occurs on the Asian continent, Singapore has always been a
regular country in the naturalization of its football players. Since 2004, Singapore has come
with a number of naturalized players. As a result, 3 (three) AFF trophies were won by the
country located on the Malay Peninsula. This proves that naturalization is a method that is
allowed to be carried out but must meet certain requirements.
Moving on from phenomena that exist in various worlds, Indonesia is also trying to
use the same method to get instant achievements in the field of football, Indonesia starting
the naturalization step in 2010, the first player to be naturalized was Cristian Gonzales from
Uruguay, the same thing was followed by Irfan Bachdim from the Netherlands and Kim
Jeffrey Kurniawan from Germany. These football players get their citizenship status as a
pre supposed right effort in the state administration system. Without citizenship status, a
person may not be able to access a number of constitutional rights granted by the state or
known as the right to have rights (Mahardika, 2021), including in this case defending the
Indonesian national team in various international events.
As we know, the naturalization process in Indonesia is divided into 2, the process
includes the Ordinary Naturalization as regulated in Article 9 of the Citizenship Law and
the Special Naturalization process which is explicitly stated in Article 20 of the Citizenship
Law. The difference between the two lies in the process. In the ordinary naturalization
process, it is submitted directly by the person concerned, provided that the person has
fulfilled the requirements contained in Article 9 of the Citizenship Law, in ordinary
naturalization or citizenship will be granted by the government which in this case is given
by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.
Unlike ordinary naturalization, the special naturalization process is regulated in
Article 20 of the Citizenship Law, this naturalization process must obtain the consideration
of the House of Representatives (hereinafter referred to as DPR) before obtaining
citizenship. The thing that needs to be observed in this special naturalization process is that
someone who wants to be naturalized must first have service to the Indonesian people.
As for what is meant by "foreigners who have rendered services to the Republic of
Indonesia" are foreigners who because of their extraordinary achievements in the fields of
humanity, science and technology, culture, environment, and sports have brought progress
and the name of the Indonesian nation has been made good. Because of these achievements,
the naturalization process was carried out in order to encourage sports achievements in
Indonesia, especially in the field of football players.
This naturalization is indeed like a knife with the edge of the world, if it is successful
it will encourage sports achievement, otherwise it will tarnish the sacred meaning of
citizenship itself. This case occurred in Indonesia, which did a lot of naturalization in the
2011-2012 era. Special Naturalization is carried out on players who do not even have
!
Muhammad!Zulhidayat,!Atma!Suganda,!Imran!Bukhari!Razif!
Political Law of The Government in A Special Naturalization of Indonesian Football
Players Based on Walfare State Theory 625
achievements in the field of sports.
Including names such as Tonnie Cusell, Jhonny Van Beukering, Ruben
Wuarbanaran, Sergio Van Dijk, and several other naturalized players who were granted
citizenship rights but failed to boost the achievements of the Indonesian national team, even
some of the names above have relinquished their Indonesian citizenship and returned to
Indonesia. country of origin. This is a policy thing that deviates from the mandate of the
Constitution and the citizenship law. A person who is naturalized should make Indonesia
the country he loves all his life. This is because the state becomes a body that is used to
protect many people (Sihombing, 2019).
This anomaly is inseparable from the government allowing naturalization policies
without considering the interests of the state, naturalization is currently being carried out
for the benefit of clubs playing in leagues in Indonesia. According to the rules that apply
in Indonesia, each team is only allowed to use 4 to 5 foreign players, the club submits a
naturalization process so that the quota of players who are submitted for naturalization can
be filled by other players. This causes the naturalization goal is no longer for the benefit of
the nation and state but only for the benefit of the club.
Based on the legal facts above, the researcher considers that there is a need for
research that discusses how the legal politics of the special naturalization policy for football
players in Indonesia in terms of Law no. 12 of 2006 concerning Citizenship.
RESEARCH METHOD
In this study, the normative juridical research method will be chosen as a way of
analyzing the problem. analysis materials based on theories and laws and regulations as
well as references related to the discussion being studied. The data analysis technique used
in this study is qualitative in nature. The form of the research results will be presented in
analytical prescriptive form.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The term citizenship can be interpreted as a strong and meaningful relationship
between the state and its citizens. Citizenship has the meaning of all kinds of relations with
a country which result in the obligation of that state to protect the person concerned,
whether he is an ordinary citizen or as an official in the government. This means that there
is no discrimination against citizens (Noveriyanto et al., 2018). If a foreign citizen becomes
a citizen of a country, then that person has rights and obligations. He has the right as a
citizen as other citizens also receive these rights, as well as regarding his obligations as a
citizen. Someone who has done citizenship must also carry out his obligations as a citizen
(Rokilah, 2017).
As described above, one of the processes of citizenship or naturalization is mostly
carried out in achievement sports such as football. Achievement sports are one type of sport
that is always encouraged to accelerate its development, it is intended that this sport of
achievement can elevate the dignity of the nation. One way to boost sports achievement is
to do citizenship or also known as naturalization. A foreign citizen can apply to become an
Indonesian citizen on condition that he/she must fulfill the administrative and substantive
requirements stipulated by Law no. 12 of 2006 (Saraswati, 2017).
Our constitution stipulates that every foreign citizen who wants to become an
Indonesian citizen must meet the requirements in order to provide confirmatory certainty
so that he/she obtains factual evidence before being granted Indonesian citizenship and
obtaining an identity as an Indonesian citizen. Substantive examination is a factual
Eduvest – Journal of Universal Studies
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626 http://eduvest.greenvest.co.id
verification process carried out by the government to assess the material truth of
applications submitted by foreigners who wish to become Indonesian citizens. As an effort
to fulfill the principle of substantive examination, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights
as a representative of the government in this case is given the authority to carry out the
citizenship or naturalization process which will also work with the integrated evaluation
team of citizenship applications (Integrated Evaluation Team) (Arundhati, 2018).
Furthermore, regarding naturalization, this process is indeed expected to be able to
have a positive impact on sports achievements, especially if someone who gets citizenship
or naturalization has special abilities and expertise in certain fields which can later make
progress in Indonesia's development, not only there, football players, It can also channel
thoughts, ideas and energies in every aspect of state and social life (Syahrin, 2019).
There are several notes that the researcher would like to put forward in this article,
especially regarding the issues currently developing in the special naturalization process in
Indonesia. According to researchers, the current naturalization process has deviated from
the constitutional mandate, a person is naturalized not because of their achievements and
contributions to the country, but based on the interests of the club and also the federation.
We can see this in the Marc Klok process, the naturalization submitted against the Persib
Bandung player is not because the player has achievements or for the benefit of the national
team, but the naturalization application process is carried out to fill the club's national
player quota to outsmart the foreign player quota. So, with the naturalization of Marc Klok,
1 foreign player quota can still be used for other foreign players.
The legal facts above according to the researcher indicate that the spirit or life of
the special naturalization has been lost, a person gets special naturalization not because of
the achievements or contributions of thought that he gave, but based on the interests of the
club alone. This problem is also a complex problem because the DPR as a legislative body
appointed based on attribution by the Citizenship Law does not carry out its functions
properly. DPR should give good consideration in this naturalization process. The DPR must
be able to become a filter in the special naturalization process so that athletes who really
excel are entitled to Indonesian citizens. The status of a citizen should not only be binding
on the holder but also on the rights and responsibilities of a country.
This logic is not applied in the naturalization process in Indonesia, which is based
on reasons of state interest. The majority of naturalized football players are mostly in
unproductive age, even one of the last naturalized players, Fabiano Beltrame, has reached
the age of 36 (thirty-six years). In the end, most of these players were naturalized not
because of the interests of the state, but the interests of clubs that needed quality players
without compromising the quota of foreign players which had been limited by the League
manager (Johan, 2018). This is certainly a paradox, considering that several players who
were granted Indonesian citizenship through the naturalization process did not contribute
anything to the progress of football in Indonesia, especially the Indonesian national team.
The citizenship status of a country like Indonesia is a special attraction for football
players who come from abroad. This is due to the existence of Indonesian citizenship status,
various facilities will be had, for example in terms of work, place of residence, income, and
so on. No wonder many players who are over 40 years old are still playing football in
Indonesia, especially in League 2 and League 3.
In the end, the special naturalization which was expected to be able to boost the
achievement of the national team did not materialize and various facilities to achieve the
naturalization process for foreign players who had careers in Indonesia were unable to
achieve the goals and concept of the state becoming a welfare state system (Purnomo &
Supriyadi, 2020).
!
Muhammad!Zulhidayat,!Atma!Suganda,!Imran!Bukhari!Razif!
Political Law of The Government in A Special Naturalization of Indonesian Football
Players Based on Walfare State Theory 627
Things that have often been criticized and disputed are related to recommendations
from the DPR which can be very subjective and have a strong political flavor. Opportunities
and legal loopholes for Indonesian citizens to be granted by the president after receiving
consideration from the DPR are regulated in Article 20 of Law Number 12 of 2006
concerning Citizenship. This causes many naturalizations who are old enough to finally get
Indonesian citizens, although in the end it does not bring achievements for football in
Indonesia. There are even naturalized players whose whereabouts are no longer known
after receiving naturalization, even though the state is a legal alliance to be occupied
forever, not temporarily (Zamroni, 2021)
One of the most important essences of the recommendations given by the DPR in
the naturalization process is that a foreigner is considered to have done a service and will
be able to serve the country. Therefore, this consideration process should be carried out
carefully so that the status of Indonesian citizen is not given easily so that it seems easy
and cheap. This is important considering that up to this moment, more than 20 football
players have been naturalized (Harahap & Nasution, 2020). However, of the dozens of
players, most only contributed to the country in short-term competitions for a few months.
After that, the news and development of the football careers of these players is no longer
known. The granting of Indonesian citizenship status through this special route must of
course be consistent with the philosophy that naturalized foreigners will have an impact on
the dignity and progress of the Indonesian nation.
Regarding naturalization, FIFA as the parent of world football has actually
tightened the rules regarding naturalization. Apart from emphasizing the general principles
of citizenship, such as ius sanguinus and ius soli, which relate to a player's attachment to
the country he is defending, there are also those concerning blood relations, where he was
born, as well as an absolute prohibition for players who have defended a country at any
level to play again with different country flags. That is, related to this naturalization
process, it must be tightened further in the future, these restrictions are important so that
the concept of government based on the constitution is maintained. The naturalization
process in Indonesia should prioritize the interests of the state above the interests of the
club, lest naturalized players in the Indonesian national team be filled. by old age players
who do not have a long period of service for the achievements and progress of Indonesian
football. So that the constitutional mandate regarding special naturalization where players
must have services for Indonesia is ignored for the sake of the interests of the club
concerned. The state must be the concrete goal of an athlete to devote himself to Indonesia
(Zamroni, 2021).
CONCLUSION
This study can conclude that the current naturalization policy is contrary to the
constitutional mandate, especially in Article 20 of Law No. 12 of 2006 concerning
citizenship, by facilitating the naturalization process so that naturalized players are filled
by players who are of old age and cannot contribute to the Indonesian national team for
long-term.
Suggestions, the naturalization process in Indonesia should prioritize the interests of
the state above the interests of the club, the DPR as the institution that provides
recommendations for the naturalization process must carefully look at how a foreigner who
will be granted Indonesian citizenship must have contributed to the state.
Eduvest – Journal of Universal Studies
Volume 2 Number 4, April 2022
628 http://eduvest.greenvest.co.id
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