Indonesia stripped of U-20 FIFA world cup hosting rights over Israel protest

FIFA has stripped Indonesia of hosting the U-20 FIFA World Cup over protests against Israel’s participation in the Muslim-majority country.

The Israeli team qualified for its first U-20 World Cup in June, scheduled to start on 20 May until 11 June this year.

Indonesia’s host status was cast into doubt when FIFA announced a delay in the draw, which was scheduled for 31 March in Bali.

While it is unclear where the tournament will be held now, a likely candidate could be Argentina, which is reportedly interested in hosting the tournament, despite not qualifying itself.

“A new host will be announced as soon as possible, with the dates of the tournament currently remaining unchanged,” FIFA said in a statement.

Indonesia could face additional penalties from FIFA, with one option of being excluded from the Asian qualifying section of the 2026 World Cup.

The Minister of State-Owned Enterprises of Indonesia, Erick Thohir, said that as a member of FIFA, Indonesia had little choice but to accept the decision.

“After delivering a letter from President Joko Widodo and discussing it at length with the President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, we must accept FIFA’s decision to cancel the holding of the event that we are both looking forward to,” he said.

Indonesian soccer and government officials agreed to FIFA’s hosting standards in 2019 before being chosen to host the Under-20 World Cup in 2021. The competition was forced to be postponed for two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, Indonesian President Joko Widodo declared Tuesday evening that his government was opposed to Israel’s participation. He told citizens that the government agreed to host the event before learning that Israel qualified.

“This is a sign that we are not able to carry out what has been asked (by FIFA) … among other things, that there should be no discrimination,” Arya Sinulingga, an executive committee member of Indonesia’s national soccer association PSSI, said during a TV interview.

“We have something that is bigger than losing our right to host the Under-20 World Cup. We have to face it in the near future, and that could affect the future of our sport,” Sinulingga said, adding, “We are now fighting not to get sanctioned, but people should know … this is too hard.

After leaving the Asian Football Confederation in the 1970’s for political and security reasons, Israel joined UEFA and now plays in Europe.