JAKARTA: As a final effort to maintain Indonesia’s status as host of the U-20 World Cup, Chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) Erick Thohir flew to Qatar on Wednesday (29 Mar) to meet Gianni Infantino, FIFA president.
Despite lobbying efforts by Erick and a direct letter from President Joko Widodo stating Indonesia’s readiness to host the tournament, FIFA still decided to revoke Indonesia’s status as host of the U-20 World Cup, less than two months before the start of the first match.
“A new host will be announced as soon as possible, with the current match date unchanged,” said a statement from football’s governing body, shortly after the meeting between Infantino and Erick.
FIFA had previously expressed their concerns about Indonesia’s ability to host, by canceling the group draw originally scheduled for Friday on the island of Bali.
FIFA did not specify the reasons for its decision to ban Indonesia from hosting the U-20 World Cup, only saying “due to current conditions.”
The statement appeared to refer to growing calls in Indonesia, a Muslim-majority country, for the Israeli team not to be included in the match. Among his calls came from two governors who are members of the same political party as the Indonesian president.
Many Indonesians expressed their anger and frustration on social media, but not at FIFA, but at the politicians who were considered responsible for the problem. “I don’t know what sacrifices we have made for the country for this event. But in an instant it failed because of the political reasons of the gentlemen above,” wrote Marselino Ferdinan, central midfielder for the Indonesia U-20 squad, on his Instagram account.
With FIFA’s decision, it means that hundreds of billions of rupiah spent on renovating the six stadiums selected as match venues and years of preparation for the first FIFA tournament in Indonesia were wasted.
This also means that the Indonesian squad will not participate in their first U-20 World Cup, because positions in the tournament are reserved for the host country.
Like rubbing salt on the wound, FIFA said “potential sanctions against PSSI can also be decided at a later stage.”
HOW IT ALL STARTED
Indonesia was awarded host status for the U-20 World Cup in 2019, after beating Brazil and Peru who also applied. At that time, the match was planned to be held in 2021, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the event to be postponed until this year.
Indonesia immediately worked to make the tournament a success, by renovating six stadiums in the cities of Jakarta, Bandung, Solo, Surabaya, Palembang and Bali to meet FIFA standards.
The ministry of public works and public housing said it had so far spent 322 billion rupiah (US$21.4 million) to renovate the stadium and other fields where participating teams train.
The Indonesian people are also very enthusiastic because they will host a major international football tournament for the first time in history. However, criticism of Indonesia as the host of the U-20 World Cup began to emerge last year when the Israeli team qualified.
Indonesia, which is a Muslim-majority country, does not have official diplomatic relations with Israel as a form of solidarity with Palestine.
Several small demonstrations against Israel’s participation in this year’s event began to emerge, especially in the cities hosting the games. The intensity of the demonstrations increased as the time for the tournament approached.
