Olympic chiefs on Wednesday ruled out any dialogue with Indonesia about hosting future events after Jakarta’s refusal to issue visas for Israeli athletes at the ongoing world artistic gymnastics championships.
The Israeli Gymnastics Federation appealed against the Indonesian government’s decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), demanding that it either guaranteed their athletes’ presence or forced a move or cancellation of the event.
But CAS rejected the appeal, meaning that Israeli athletes have not been able to compete in the October 19-25 championships in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.
The executive board of the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday reiterated its position that “all eligible athletes, teams and sports officials must be able to take part in international sports competitions and events without any form of discrimination by the host country”.
In order to avoid similar situations in the future, the IOC board decided “to end any form of dialogue with the NOC (National Olympic Committee) of Indonesia about hosting future editions of the Olympic Games, Youth Olympic Games, Olympic events or conferences until such time as the Indonesian government provides the IOC with adequate guarantees that it will allow access to the country for all participants, regardless of nationality, to attend.”
The IOC board said it would also “recommend to all International Federations not to host any international sports events or meetings in Indonesia until such time as the Indonesian government provides adequate guarantees”.
Additionally, Olympic chiefs requested that the NOC of Indonesia and the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) go to the IOC headquarters in Lausanne “to discuss the situation that occurred ahead of” the championships.
The Indonesian government said that it had refused entry to Israeli gymnasts in support of Palestinians.
In July 2023, Indonesia pulled out of hosting the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) World Beach Games following controversy over Israel’s participation.
In March that year, Indonesia lost the hosting rights to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup after two governors objected to Israel’s participation.
Both of those occurred before Israel’s invasion of Gaza, where there is currently a ceasefire in place.
Israel has been facing damning criticism from across the globe over its relentless bombardment of Gaza over the past two years, with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and a United Nations inquiry already declaring its actions in the enclave as a “genocide”.
More than 67,900 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the besieged strip — figures the United Nations considers to be credible.
