The government’s exclusion of Israeli athletes from the World Gymnastics Championships currently taking place in Jakarta has consequences for the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI).
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Wednesday that all dialogue with Indonesia’s national committee about the organization of future Olympic Games, other Olympic events and conferences would be discontinued. These and other sanctions would only be lifted if the government of the predominantly Muslim country abandons the entry ban.
Until then, the IOC also recommends that all other international associations not host any international sporting events or meetings in Indonesia. However, the sports political pressure comes too late for the Gymnastics World Championships, which only run until Saturday.
Indonesia Olympic Committee should explain itself
International federations should also be asked to include guarantees for the entry of all athletes into the respective country in their hosting agreements for all Olympic qualifying competitions. In addition, Indonesia’s Olympic Committee and the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) are being asked to hold a meeting at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne about the situation in the run-up to the World Cup.
In a statement, the IOC Executive Committee emphasized that the actions of the Indonesian government “the athletes of their right to peaceful competitions” rob.
The CAS rejected two Israeli applications
The background to the measures now taken is the Indonesian government’s refusal to issue visas to Israeli gymnasts for the World Cup in Jakarta. The Israeli association had turned to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) due to the exclusion, but the “requests for urgent interim measures” were rejected.
The Israeli gymnastics association had demanded that either the participation of its own athletes be guaranteed or that the event be canceled or postponed. The court said last week that although this appeal was ongoing, no interim measures would be taken. The World Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta last until Saturday.