Salomon Kalou’s plans to have his application for Dutch citizenship fast-tracked before the World Cup finals have received a significant set-back following the news that the Dutch immigration minister who is in charge of his appeal, Rita Verdonk, has said that she intends to appeal to the Supreme Court to have the decision reversed.

The Cote D’Ivoire-born striker Kalou, who has been playing for Feyenoord since 2003, has already had his application refused on two previous occasions.

Immigration minister Rita Verdonk says she will ask the Supreme Court to reverse a Rotterdam court's ruling that Kalou, who moved to the Netherlands from the Ivory Coast just three years ago, has shown a genuine desire to integrate into Dutch life, and that his application should be granted.

Verdonk has argued that Kalou will leave Holland for a bigger club elsewhere in Europe as soon as he is granted Dutch citizenship, and therefore should not receive any special consideration due to his celebrity status. Her main objection is to giving celebrities special treatment by making exceptions to the five-year residency requirement.

Even the support of ex-Ajax and AC Milan striker Marco van Basten, who coaches the Dutch squad, in the appeal for the 20-year-old’s hopes of speeding up the process, might not be enough for Kalou’s attempts to have the previously refused applications overturned.

Van Basten gave his support to the striker after he invited Kalou to join the Netherlands' World Cup team in Germany. “Salomon has exceptional skills and qualities. If he is granted a Dutch passport, he will make a huge difference for our World Cup team,” Van Basten told the Dutch court hearing the case.

The Netherlands were drawn in the same World Cup group as the Ivory Coast, who also want the services of Salomon Kalou at next year's tournament in Germany.

One wonders what his brother, Bonaventure Kalou, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, and is currently the captain of the Ivory Coast, thinks of this?

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