Singapore: Indonesia has been stripped of hosting rights to its first major football event amid opposition in the world’s most populous Muslim majority nation to the participation of Israel.
Football-mad Indonesia was scheduled to stage the men’s Under-20 World Cup from May 20 to June 11 and hoped the 24-team tournament could begin to repair the country’s battered reputation after last year’s stadium tragedy in East Java.
Protesters wave Palestinian flags as they marched in Jakarta last week against Israel’s participation in the Under-20 World Cup.Credit:AP
Controversy over the qualification of Israel, however, has resulted in the event being removed from South-east Asia’s largest nation by the game’s world governing body FIFA, which indicated it may also consider sanctions against the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI).
“FIFA has decided, due to the current circumstances, to remove Indonesia as the host of the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023,” FIFA said in a statement.
“A new host will be announced as soon as possible, with the dates of the tournament currently remaining unchanged. Potential sanctions against the PSSI may also be decided at a later stage.”
Indonesia was awarded hosting rights to the under-age World Cup in 2019 well before it was known which national teams would make it through the qualifying stages.
Indonesia President Joko Widodo delivered a televised address on Tuesday night about the tournament.Credit:Indonesian Presidential Palace
But the eventual presence in the draw of Israel – which has no formal diplomatic ties with Indonesia – threw a spanner in the works for a government that supports the cause of the Palestinians.
The issue escalated last week when conservative Muslims took to the streets of Jakarta to protest Israel’s involvement.
Bali Governor Wayan Koster then said he would refuse to host the Israeli team on the Hindu-majority island, as had been a plan of organisers. Koster cited Indonesia’s foreign policy amid concerns raised about the event’s security.
The debate was ratcheted up further as Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, the frontrunner for next year’s Indonesian presidential election, also called for the Israel team to be excluded from the tournament.
Indonesia President Joko Widodo attempted to salvage the World Cup, urging that sport and politics should not be mixed as Erick Thohir, one of his ministers and the new head of the PSSI, was dispatched to Doha to meet with FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
FIFA, however, decided the domestic furore over Israel had made a tournament in Indonesia untenable. Argentina has been suggested in Indonesian media as a possible alternative host.
“Indonesia is a FIFA member, so for any international soccer matters, we have to abide by the rules,” said Thohir, a businessman who formerly owned Italian football giants Inter Milan.
“I ask all football lovers to keep their heads held high over this tough decision by FIFA. ”
Indonesia was to hold matches at six venues including Bali, where the draw was also to be staged, but it wasn’t only the subject of where Israel might play that proved problematic.
There was also the possibility that the team might be drawn in the same group of Indonesia, which automatically qualified as hosts, and the two would therefore have to play against each other. Such a scenario could trigger tensions among fans of the opposing teams.
Losing the World Cup event is a significant setback. Indonesian football has been plagued by troubles including corruption, match fixing and violence between supporters which have contributed to it being a perennial under-achiever considering the country’s size and zest for the sport.
It was only last October that 135 people died at a top-division league game between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya in Malang, most suffocating in a stampede towards the exit gates after police fired tear gas inside the packed stadium.
The PSSI said this week that losing hosting rights would harm Indonesian football teams’ chances of taking part in other FIFA tournaments, while the economic losses would amount to “trillions of rupiah”.
– with Reuters
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