The Malaysian National Team failed to naturalize Dutch League player Mats Deijl

An effort Malaysia national team to increase strength through the player nationalization program has again reached a dead end. This time, Mats Deijl, a tough Dutch defender who plays for Go Ahead Eagles, did not meet the FIFA requirements to strengthen the Harimau Malaya national team.

This failure was a blow to the intentions of Malaysia, who wanted to strengthen their team with legacy players, after the success Indonesia national team in a similar program. The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) confirmed that Mats Deijl does not meet FIFA’s requirements to be part of the Malaysian national team.

“Mats Deijl will not pass FIFA requirements to represent the Malayan Tigers” according to Malaysian media reports, eat balls, Tuesday (1/10/2024).

Even though Deijl has Malaysian ancestry through his ancestors, this is not enough to meet the FIFA requirements which state that players must have blood directly from their grandparents. In Deijl’s case, his descent came from his grandfather’s mother, so he did not meet the requirements set by FIFA.

FAM is working hard to process documents that show the Deijl family’s relationship with Malaysia. From 27 June 2024, FAM has been in contact with clubs, agents and players to confirm their eligibility. However, FIFA’s final results dashed those hopes.

Malaysia’s nationalization program was a complete failure

Mats Deijl’s failure to naturalize is not the only case where Malaysia has faced a failure to recruit players of descent. Several other targeted players, such as Ferdi Druijf, Wan Kuzain and Ethan Wheatley, turned down the chance to join Harimau Malaya. Ferdi Druijf, who plays for Rapid Wien, even openly showed his interest in the Indonesian national team rather than Malaysia, making it clear that Malaysia’s nationalization program is not up to expectations.

The decision of these players to reject Malaysia further demonstrates Indonesia’s success in attracting players of descent. Indonesia has succeeded in getting several star players through the nationalization program, such as Mees Hilgers and Eliano Reijnders, who immediately made a big impact on the Garuda National Team. Malaysia’s failure puts more pressure on FAM, which is still trying to compete with Indonesia’s success.

The failure of the nationalization program shows more and more that Malaysia is still lagging behind on the South East Asian football map. Even though Malaysia recorded a better FIFA ranking than Indonesia in September 2024, being in 131st position compared to 132nd for Indonesia, this ranking did not last long. Within a few weeks, Indonesia shot to 129th place thanks to its amazing performance in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers, including holding two Asian giants, Australia and Saudi Arabia, to a draw.

(sto)