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≡ INDONESIA’S BAN ALL POLITICS? ≡
The Indonesian government and its Olympic officials have stated and re-stated that they refused to grant entry visas to already-entered Israeli gymnasts for the 2025 FIG World Artistic Championships in Jakarta because of threats to public order if they were allowed to compete.
On 8 October – 11 days prior to the championships – Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung Wibowo said, “Regarding athletes from Israel, as the Governor of Jakarta, under current circumstances, I will not allow their presence.
“There’s no benefit in having Israeli gymnasts compete in Jakarta right now – it would only spark anger.”
Indonesian Minister of Youth and Sports Erick Thohir, also an International Olympic Committee member since 2019, wrote on X on 23 October:
“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 International Olympic Committee issued a statement a day earlier, ending talks on Indonesian aspirations to host any future Olympic events and asking the International Federations also to shut Indonesia out until it agrees with the IOC’s position that “all eligible athletes, teams and sports officials must be able to take part in international sports competitions and events without any form of discrimination by the host country, in accordance with the Olympic Charter and the fundamental principles of non-discrimination, autonomy and political neutrality that govern the Olympic Movement.”
But a different story is being told by two of the six Israeli athletes who were to compete in Jakarta, Lihie Raz, the 2020 European Championships women’s Floor bronze winner, and Eyal Indig, who competed in the men’s All-Around at the 2021 World Championships in Japan.
Indig told Fox News Digital:
“The formal reason given by the Indonesian government was that us participating would endanger us, and the other national delegations.
“For us, it was very strange. [Israeli] security did a scan one week before our flight, in Indonesia, they were in Indonesia, and they authorized everything in terms of security. So we had full authorization from Israel security’s team, and you can believe me that they wouldn’t authorize anything that wasn’t safe. And our federation kept telling us it was safe.”
In fact, Indonesia’s senior minister of law, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, confirmed to The Associated Press that the Indonesian gymnastics federation has submitted a request for the six-member Israeli team to be granted visas, but that “the federation has withdrawn the sponsorship letter.”
Indig told Fox News Digital, “one thing I can say is that this incident has nothing to do with the ceasefire. It’s a blatant incident of discrimination on the basis of nationality.”
The question of whether the Indonesian refusal of entry visas for the Israeli gymnasts was warranted becomes important in the IOC’s deliberations into what to do about the Indonesian government and what to do about the feckless Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which pathetically acquiesced to the Indonesian government’s demands, in contradiction to its own rules.
Further, the action by the Israel Gymnastics Federation and the six gymnasts against the FIG continues in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, where the Israel side is asked “for FIG to take the necessary measures that guarantee Israeli participation in the championships, or in the alternative, to move or to cancel the championships.” The Court of Arbitration did not grant an injunction to the Israelis, but the matter could result in other sanctions or damages to be paid to the Israeli side.
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