Nadine Felisca Tunas
Sports & Politics, Mixed
As of 29th of March, the title of Indonesia as host of FIFA U-20 World Cup has been officially stripped. This is due to Indonesia’s key decision makers giving sports diplomacy a run, ironically contradicting its President’s latest statement. Indonesia has a history of preventing Israel from being involved in sports events taking place in Indonesia, although this year took a turn when Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia, stated that we cannot mix up sports and politics. Due to some strong oppositions and even some protests, the escalating doubts over whether or not Israel’s team would be able to compete in Indonesia without any disruption lead FIFA to reach an unfavorable decision for the Indonesians.
Due to this, Indonesia has faced serious repercussions, costing the country billions of dollars and worst of all, shattering the dreams of its soon-to-be representatives on the pitch. The tragedy that occurred in October 2022, claiming the lives of more than 130 people due to a stadium crush, was also said to become a factor to FIFA’s final decision. This was a loss of such a big opportunity. An opportunity to ink a name for Indonesia in Sports History. An ink to prove that Sports and Politics do not mix, rather the presence of sports is to connect communities no matter where they come from. The truth is Sports and Politics do mix, and we have no way of guaranteeing if it will ever not.
