Dutch court backs Kalou

THE chances of Ivory Coast international Bonaventure Kalou playing against his brother Salomon at the World Cup finals moved a step closer on Wednesday.

Ivorian-born Salomon Kalou’s initial application for Dutch citizenship was rejected last August but a high court has now ruled that the Netherlands’ immigration minister must reconsider the request. In Amsterdam on Wednesday, the Council of State, the nation’s highest body for administrative law, upheld lower court rulings in December that Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk had not given enough justification for rejecting Kalou’s application.The court ordered Verdonk to begin a new review of the 20-year-old’s case, adding: ‘This doesn’t mean that Kalou will definitely receive an accelerated naturalisation’.Dutch national coach Marco van Basten has argued that Kalou, who plays for Feyenoord, would be an important addition to his squad for June’s World Cup finals in Germany.- BBCIn Amsterdam on Wednesday, the Council of State, the nation’s highest body for administrative law, upheld lower court rulings in December that Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk had not given enough justification for rejecting Kalou’s application.The court ordered Verdonk to begin a new review of the 20-year-old’s case, adding: ‘This doesn’t mean that Kalou will definitely receive an accelerated naturalisation’.Dutch national coach Marco van Basten has argued that Kalou, who plays for Feyenoord, would be an important addition to his squad for June’s World Cup finals in Germany.- BBC