Why some Indonesians want to give Israel the boot from Fifa's U20 World Cup

Indonesia's plan to leverage its hosting of the Fifa Under-20 World Cup to repair its reputation in the sporting world following a stadium disaster last year is being marred by an ongoing controversy over Israel's participation in the tournament.

As a runner-up in the 2022 European U19 Championship, Israel was granted a place in the 24-nation U20 World Cup. That has stirred controversy in Indonesia, which has positioned itself as a staunch defender of Palestinians for decades.

The U20 World Cup is scheduled from May 20 to June 11, but the draw for the tournament will take place next week on the resort island of Bali.

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The Hindu-majority island has voiced opposition in hosting Israel's national team, as underlined by a letter written by governor Wayan Koster to the central government on March 14.

"We request the [Youth and Sports] Minister adopt a policy forbidding the Israeli team from competing in Bali. We, the provincial government of Bali, declare that we refuse the participation of the Israel team to compete in Bali," Wayan wrote.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, has no diplomatic relationship with Israel, although attempts have been made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to persuade Jakarta to normalise ties with Tel Aviv last year.

The matter may have been made worse by Israel's right-wing finance minister Betzalel Smotrich during a speech in France on Sunday when he said that "there is no such thing as a Palestinian people."

Indonesia's foreign ministry on Wednesday strongly condemned Smotrich's remarks, saying that "Indonesia continues to consistently support the struggle of the Palestinian people."

Earlier this month, the ministry told reporters that Israel's presence in the U-20 World Cup would not "change Indonesia's stance on the Palestine conflict".

Ali Mochtar Ngabalin, a senior staff at the Presidential Staff Office, said Indonesia was aware when it bid to host the tournament that it would be obliged to host Israel as well as other participating teams.

"[Israel's presence at the U20 World Cup] is related to Fifa rules, it has nothing to do with Indonesia's [foreign policies]," he said on Monday during an appearance in a show on CNN Indonesia.

"This event must be a success so that Indonesia will have a respectable position in the eyes of the international community, in the eyes of the football [community] because we value the guests who come."

Jakarta's view on the matter is in stark contrast with the country's Muslim groups. On Monday, dozens of conservative Muslims took to the streets in the capital to protest against Israel's participation, with several people burning the Israeli flag.

The Islamic Ulema Council, Indonesia's top Islamic scholars body, said all Islamic groups in the country, including moderate ones such as Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, opposed Israel's attendance at the championship.

Akmal Marhali, the head of Indonesian football watchdog Save Our Soccer, said that Israel was likely to still come to Indonesia despite the local controversy, and those who oppose could either "take it or leave it".

"It's either accepting their presence or we let go of our host status, and not participating in the [U20] World Cup, as we can only play in it due to our status as a host," Akmal said.

"Israel's delegate also took part in the Inter-Parliamentary Union meetings in Bali [last year], how is [Israeli's attendance to these events] different from [their participation in the] football tournament?" Akmal added.

Indonesia also faced the risk of being sanctioned by Fifa if it still wanted to host the tournament but reject Israel's participation, he said.

He pointed out that Malaysia was stripped of its hosting rights of the 2019 World Para Swimming Championship as it refused to allow Israeli athletes into the country to compete. London eventually hosted the tournament.

There are precedents of Indonesia refusing to host or play against Israel in competition. In 1962, Indonesia's founding father and first president Sukarno refused to host Israeli athletes at the Asian Games in Jakarta, and in 2006, it withdrew from playing Israel in the premier women's team tennis competition, which was then known as the Federation Cup.

However, it took on Israel's national football team in 1972 during men's qualifying for that year's Summer Olympics in Munich. Israeli badminton player Misha Zilberman also competed in the World Championships in Jakarta in 2015, while Israeli racing cyclist Mikhail Yakovlev took part at an international event hosted by Jakarta last month.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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