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≡ INDONESIA BANS ISRAEL ≡
Following the 10 October announcement by the Indonesian government that it would not issue entry visas for the Israeli team to compete at the 2025 FIG World Artistic Championships in Jakarta, The Times of Israel reported:
“Raja Sapta Oktohari, head of the national Olympic committee, said Indonesia was ready to accept any consequences for blocking the Israeli athletes from competing.
“‘We will review the consequences after the event,’ he said.”
That sentiment was confirmed by Erick Thohir, the Indonesian Minister of Youth and Sports who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee since 2019. He wrote on X on Thursday:
“We at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, as representatives of the Indonesian Government, adhere to the principle of maintaining security, public order, and public interest in every international event organized. This step is in accordance with the provisions of applicable laws and regulations. This principle is also based on the 1945 Constitution, which respects security and public order, as well as the obligation of the Indonesian Government to uphold world order.
“On that basis, Indonesia has taken steps to avoid the arrival of the Israeli delegation at the Gymnastics World Championships. We understand that this decision carries consequences, wherein as long as Indonesia cannot accept the presence of Israel, the IOC has decided that Indonesia cannot host world championships, Olympic events, Youth Olympic Games, and other activities under the Olympic umbrella.
“The Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Government remain committed to preparing a blueprint for national sports development, including strengthening 17 flagship sports and building a national team training center. Indonesia will continue to play an active role in various sports events at the Southeast Asian, Asian, and global levels, so that Indonesian sports can serve as an ambassador and a reflection of the nation’s strength in the eyes of the world.”
Translation: Oktohari was right; Indonesia is not concerned with the consequences of refusing Israeli participation at the World Championships.
From the point of view of the Indonesian organizers and the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, the issue is not Israel’s right to compete but concerns over public rioting over Israel’s participation.
FIG Secretary General Nicolas Buompane (SUI) was clear about this. Asked at the pre-Championships news conference last Saturday (18th) why this possibility was not taken into account beforehand, since Indonesia had stridently refused Israeli participation as recently as the 2023 ANOC World Beach Games (the event was canceled) and the 2023 FIFA men’s U-20 World Cup (event moved to Argentina). Buompane stunningly answered:
“When it comes to it, it was previsible not that much in our sense.
“Okay, we know that there is no relationship if I may say so between both countries. But at the same time when the bid has been allocated to Indonesia, we receive a confirmation from the government and this is part of the bidding process mentioning that all participants will be granted with a visa and it was the case until the 9th of October.
“Everybody got their visa and suddenly because of these threats [for riots] and all this they had to change their mind for security reason.”
He was then asked about the FIG regulations, which require all qualified athletes to be able to enter, specifically Articles 26.3 and 26.4:
● “The organisation of events is entrusted, with advance notice, to Member Federations which fully guarantee that the Statutes and Regulations of the FIG will be observed together with the terms of the contract which they are obliged to enter into with the FIG. The preparation and conduct of the competitive programme is under the control of the FIG.”
● “Entry visas must be granted to the gymnasts/athletes and to the officials of all Member Federations. In the event that this requirement is not fulfilled, the allocation of the event would be cancelled with immediate effect by the Executive Committee.”
Buompane answered:
“Well, indeed, but as I said, we are focusing on this specific article. We would have loved to be able to respect it. But then you have other articles which speak also about security – force majeure – impossibility to cancel or to relocate at such a short notice.
“So that has to be taken into consideration. So what should we do? If we just take into account the article you just mentioned, we should tell them, you know, guys go home. Go home. So is that the answer to such a question? You know, we have been talking about this with our politician, with many stakeholders. I will not mention all of them because the list would be too long, but at the end of the day, the only way was just to go for it.
“So violation in a way, but we have a defense on that too, because once again you cannot just extract one article which is the one everybody’s pointing out at in this moment in time. There are others that will help us to defend ourselves because once again it’s not our decision, and we would love – contrary to that decision – to have everybody here on site, but again not possible as of today.”
The IOC made its unhappiness clear on its Wednesday statement, ending any discussions about Indonesian hosting future Olympic-related events and asking International Federations to do the same.
Both Indonesia and the FIG will get their chance to try their arguments out on the IOC in a forthcoming meeting in Lausanne, requested by the IOC on Wednesday.
Observed: So now we have the positions of Indonesia and the FIG that the championships are much more important than having Israel compete, due to possible rioting.
The IOC is not likely to be impressed, and beyond its stated request “that the International Federations include guarantees on access to the respective country for all athletes in their hosting agreements for any Olympic qualification competition around the world,” it can ensure compliance by the IFs.
How? By requiring adherence to this principle as a precondition to receiving a share of the IOC’s television rights fees from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games and beyond. With more than half of the International Federations essentially dependent on IOC television money for survival, this audit requirement will instantly insert a new question into every bid for every IF event (and urgent requests for an answer to all existing event hosts):
“Please list any countries with which your national government does not have diplomatic relations.”
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