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What is meant by naturalization is the acquisition of Chinese citizenship; it involves accepting a foreigner or stateless person as one of the country’s citizens through formal procedures, based on their voluntary application. Naturalization usually requires meeting certain conditions. Most **only grant citizenship to foreigners who already have a residence in the country, have lived there for a considerable period of time, and intend to reside there permanently. Whether to approve an application for citizenship is decided by each country, which **has the right to refuse citizenship to foreigners or stateless persons without having to give any reasons. The topic of naturalized players remains highly relevant, but many people still are not familiar with FIFA’s rules regarding players changing their nationality. Names like Paulinho and Teixeira keep coming up in this context. So, as China’s national football team is about to see its first naturalized player take to the field, we will provide further explanations using simple language and examples. First of all, it should be noted that player descendants and naturalized players fall into two categories under FIFA’s rules regarding nationality changes. For the sake of ease in reference, this article refers to players like Li Ke and Hou Yongyong as \"descendant naturalized players,\" while players like Elksson and Goulart are called \"foreigner naturalized players.\" First, regarding \"descendant naturalization,\" FIFA recognizes immediate relatives within three generations – that is, those who can be traced back to grandparents and maternal grandparents – to determine whether they possess or have previously possessed the nationality of the country in which naturalization is sought. It is important to note that nationality, not blood lineage, is what matters here; in other words, the descendants of foreigners who once held Chinese nationality are still eligible under this rule, while descendants of Chinese people who do not hold Chinese nationality are not. Li Ke, Hou Yongyong, Browning, and Xiao Chu all met this requirement and thus came to the attention of Chinese Super League clubs. Second, under the concept of \"descendant naturalization,\" one can represent the adult national team of the country to which they have acquired citizenship in official FIFA competitions, as long as they have not played in such competitions for their original nationality’s adult team. Official FIFA competitions for adult teams include the World Cup and its qualifying matches, the continental cups and their qualifying rounds, as well as the Confederations Cup, which is nearing its end. Olympic football matches are not considered part of these competitions, nor are international A-match fixtures held for preparatory purposes. Qian Jie was unable to play for the Chinese national team after regaining his Chinese citizenship, precisely because he had played in the African Cup for Gabon’s team. Third, for players to be naturalized through foreign aid, they need to work continuously in the country where naturalization is sought for over 5 years; each period of more than 6 months is counted as 1 year. The exact duration is determined based on immigration records. Currently, those who meet the 5-year requirement are Elkeson from Shanghai SIPG, Aloisio from Meizhou, Guto from Shaanxi, and Dorley from Meizhou. Goulart from Guangzhou Evergrande, Alan from Tianhai, and Ivo from Jiangsu Suning will meet this requirement by the end of this year. Muriqui from Yongchang unfortunately lost his eligibility due to leaving Chinese football leagues at some point during that period; all of them are Brazilian players. Fourth, in addition to meeting the same requirement as for \"descendant naturalization\" – namely not having played in any official FIFA competitions for the original **adult** team – \"foreign player naturalization\" also requires that the player have not played in any official FIFA competitions for the original **youth teams** at any level. Teixeira from Su Ning failed to meet this requirement, as he had played for Brazil in the World U-20 Championship; the same was true for Kaldke from Sui. Fifthly, when transferring (changing affiliation) between multiple different regional football associations that are all part of FIFA – such as the Chinese Football Association, the Chinese Taipei Football Association, the Macau Football Association, etc. – in addition to meeting the requirement of not having played in any official FIFA competitions for the senior team of the original association, it is also necessary to have worked continuously in the country where one wishes to obtain citizenship for 2 years. If Delgado from Luneng can prove that he is of Macanese descent, he can take this “shortcut”; however, if he cannot prove such descent, he will not be able to play for the Chinese national team even if he obtains Chinese citizenship, as he has already played for the Portuguese youth team in UEFA youth competitions. These are the basic principles. Asians like those from Zhongta Xi hope to encounter this \"hurdle\" within three generations. If China’s football association truly wants to make use of the \"resources\" of the tens of millions of Asians around the world without having to face criticism related to the naturalization of foreign players, then it needs to work hard with FIFA; the \"nail\" inserted into the identity verification committee must also play its role.