The Israeli Gymnastics Federation (IGF) says a “dangerous precedent” has been set after its athletes were denied entry into Indonesia for the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
Indonesia said it would not grant visas to the Israel team for the event in Jakarta from 19-25 October because of the country’s military offensive in Gaza.
A request from the IGF for urgent provisional measures to guarantee Israeli participation, or to move or cancel the event, was rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).
Cas said the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) argued it had “no prerogatives” in the issuing of entry visas, and the Indonesian government’s decision not to grant the visas falls “outside the competence” of the organisation.
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, has no formal diplomatic ties with Israel but the IGF says it had been given assurances its delegation would be welcome.
IGF secretary general Sarit Shenar said that its athletes “just want to participate” but the decision to deny them visas represented “a very slippery slope” for sport in general.
“Our biggest fear is that this type of event can go on and can just be a setup example,” Shenar said.
“That if it happened in World Championship and gymnastics, what’s next? It can be in any discipline, in any sport, in any competition. This precedent is very dangerous.”
Among the athletes unable to compete are defending world floor champion Artem Dolgopyat.
Indonesia has cited their longstanding political and diplomatic principles for their decision.
“We are aware of the Israeli Gymnastics Federation’s plan to appeal to Cas. We are anticipating the lawsuit and will face it respectfully, following the rules and regulations of Cas and Indonesia,” said Youth and Sports Minister Erick Thohir.
The decision came from the first president of Indonesia, Sukarno, who refused to recognise Israel as a country.
That stance has shaped Indonesia’s diplomatic posture for decades.
During the 1962 Asian Games, Indonesia similarly barred Israeli athletes – leading to its exclusion from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics by the International Olympic Committee.
Although that ruling was overturned, Indonesia boycotted the Games.
In March 2023 Indonesia was stripped of its right to host football’s Under-20 World Cup after the governor of Bali, where the draw was due to take place, refused to host the Israel team.
Six months later, Israel launched its offensive in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage back to Gaza.
Since then more than 67,000 people have been killed by Israel’s offensive, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. Its figures are seen as reliable by the United Nations and other international bodies.
More than nine in 10 residential buildings have been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Last month the UN commission of inquiry formally declared Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza – though Israel rejected this.
On Monday, 20 living Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian detainees were reunited with their families as part of a ceasefire deal.
Shenar said Indonesia’s decision to deny visas to Israeli athletes was “sad timing” given the events of the previous day.
She added that “sport and politics should never interfere each other” as she pointed the finger of blame at FIG, given the IGF had raised the issue with them more than a year ago.
“We were hoping for a diplomatic solution, way before a legal one,” she added.
“They [FIG] sent us a letter telling us everything is taken under control, that the authorities there gave official letter that they will there will be no problem.
“There is no question who’s responsible for this mess in our eyes – FIG, a part of the International Olympic Committee.
“They should be obeying all the rules and not ignoring the Olympic Charter.”
In September, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for Israel to be excluded from international sports competitions over its actions in Gaza.
There have also been widespread calls for the country’s teams to be suspended from football competitions by European football’s governing body Uefa.
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Source: BBC
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