The CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) maintained the exclusion of Israeli gymnasts from the World Cup to be held in Indonesia from October 19 to 25, according to a resolution from the main sports judicial body published this Tuesday (14).
Following the Indonesian authorities’ decision not to grant visas to Israeli gymnasts, the country’s federation appealed to the CAS for the court to force the FIG (International Gymnastics Federation) to “guarantee the participation of the Israeli team in the World Cup” or “transfer or cancel the event”.
The precautionary requests “were rejected”, informs the CAS resolution, which examined the case urgently, as the Gymnastics World Cup begins next Sunday, in Jakarta.
The CAS, however, continues to examine the merits of one of the two appeals presented by the Israeli federation and the “six Israeli athletes classified” for the World Cup, including Artem Dolgopyat, world champion in 2023 and gold medalist on floor exercise at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The Israeli federation considers that the FIG’s statutes oblige its executive committee to “make a decision” in the event of visa denials to athletes, and that this lack of decision “constitutes a denial of justice, thus creating a situation of discrimination against a member federation”.
The FIG argues, according to the CAS statement, “that it has no prerogatives in issuing entry visas to Indonesia” and that the decision by the Jakarta authorities “is completely outside its competence.”
On Thursday last week, the Indonesian Minister of Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, announced that the country, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, “will not maintain any contact with Israel until Israel recognizes the existence of a free and sovereign Palestine” and that for this reason it denied visas to Israeli gymnasts.
The following day, the FIG limited itself to “taking note” of Jakarta’s decision, without criticizing the Indonesian government directly or considering transferring the competition’s headquarters.
The entity only expressed the hope that “an environment will be created as quickly as possible where athletes from all over the world can practice sports in a safe and peaceful way.”
In July 2023, Indonesia withdrew from hosting the World Beach Games and, although it officially announced that it acted for budgetary reasons, the local press reported that the decision was motivated by the reluctance of the governor of Bali, Wayan Koster, to receive an Israeli delegation.
In March 2023, FIFA withdrew Indonesia from hosting the U20 World Cup after Koster and the governor of Central Java province, Ganjar Pranowo, expressed opposition to Israel’s participation.
The fourth most populous country in the world, but never host of the Olympic Games, Indonesia has repeatedly expressed interest in the 2036 edition, which is the next big decision on the IOC (International Olympic Committee) agenda. Other countries that have shown interest are India, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and Hungary.
