OPPOSITION lawmaker Hannah Yeoh has questioned whether stateless children in Malaysia need to become professional football players before they can obtain citizenship.

The Segambut MP was reacting to news that Sri Pahang FC midfielder Lee Tuck is now a naturalised Malaysian citizen.

“Must we get our stateless children to play football before the authorities pay heed to their plight?” Yeoh asked in a Facebook post.

“This is why I have earlier advocated for a ministry for children because we can afford billions for men’s interests but peanuts for the protection of children.”

Tuck joins the likes of fellow club member Sergio Aguero from Argentina who has also obtained Malaysia citizenship through naturalisation.

Footballers Guilherme de Paula from Brazil and Yugoslavia-born Liridon Krasniqi, who play for JDT, were also given citizenship.

Last year, Yeoh proposed that Putrajaya set up a children’s ministry to look after the needs of children in the country.

In March, Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto raised the issue of citizenship for foreign-born footballers in the Dewan Rakyat.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are at least 10,000 people in Peninsular Malaysia alone who are denied nationality, with unknown numbers in East Malaysia. – September 1, 2022.