Indonesia cancels Team Israel visas; IOC tells them "No talks until you promise…"; FIG does 0.

[JaJa]

Indonesia has not been banned from hosting. The IOC has only recommended events not be held there "until the country promises to allow all participants, regardless of nationality". They are being told to acquiesce.

well, the IOC went further than that, although you are correct that Indonesia has not been totally "banned" from hosting the Olympics or qualifiers. What the IOC did was "end any form of dialogue with the NOC 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"

 

[IratePanda]

And the Indonesian government has made it pretty clear they don't intend to provide those guarantees, so that's that.

 

[JaJa]

And the Indonesian government has made it pretty clear they don't intend to provide those guarantees, so that's that.

agreed. But it still does not rise to the level of a "ban"

 

[Caligym]

Here is the actual IOC statement. I read it to mean IOC really only has control over the Olympics themselves. Qualifiers are run by individual sports federations, so they can only issue “recommendations” for those.

https://www.olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-eb-takes-measures-to-protect-access-for-all-athletes-to-countries-hosting-international-competitions

 

[JaJa]

Here is the actual IOC statement. I read it to mean IOC really only has control over the Olympics themselves. Qualifiers are run by individual sports federations, so they can only issue “recommendations” for those.

https://www.olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-eb-takes-measures-to-protect-access-for-all-athletes-to-countries-hosting-international-competitions

there is no outright ban for the Olympic Games either though

 

[Denn]

I would like to retitle the thread. Is this accurate?

Indonesia cancels Team Israel visas; IOC tells them "No talks until you behave"; FIG does 0

 

[Aeris]

And the Indonesian government has made it pretty clear they don't intend to provide those guarantees, so that's that.

Depends if they really care to do an Olympic bid or not. If they want to, then they can choose to comply later on, in time to make a bid.

The hypocrisy is funny though. USA is currently blocking athletes from 12 countries for everything except Olympic level events.

 

[RedBirdie]

Well, the USA is pretty damn dysfunctional these days. Day 22 of the federal government being shut down and no end in sight.

 

[Aeris]

Well, the USA is pretty damn dysfunctional these days.

And that's supposed to be a valid excuse for why they are allowed to block 12 countries from events, while another country isn't allowed to block 1?

 

[RedBirdie]

No, I'm saying the US is a dysfunctional mess and blocking 12 countries from events tracks with the current state of things here. Not an excuse, a statement of fact. Nothing excuses it. It's bog standard xenophobia and racism from the current regime. Until the rest of the world actually does something about it, they're going to keep going further and further.

 

[Sasha]

I think @Aeris is referring to the fact that the IOC is issuing warnings to Indonesia for blocking one country, but not to the US, which is blocking numerous countries.

 

[JaJa]

I think @Aeris is referring to the fact that the IOC is issuing warnings to Indonesia for blocking one country, but not to the US, which is blocking numerous countries.

I am very uncertain about this -- but as far as i know, the U.S. only blocks Russia and Belarus. Otherwise, while there are about 19 travel bans in place I think, athletes , coaches and support staff all are exempted from the bans for all major sports events.

 

[Aeris]

Allowing selective "major events" doesn't change lots of athletes being blocked in general.

Ultimately it's all just about power and politics. Prominent countries like USA are given more leeway and there would have been barely a peep if Indonesia had chosen to block Trinidad or something.

 

[JaJa]

Allowing selective "major events" doesn't change lots of athletes being blocked in general.

Ultimately it's all just about power and politics. Prominent countries like USA are given more leeway and there would have been barely a peep if Indonesia had chosen to block Trinidad or something.

OK. As I said I am not certain about this. So maybe you can tell us which events the athletic exemption does not apply to. Because as far as I know it applies to all major international events -- which is kind of the point here.

 

[Denn]

@Aeris Which sports event and which athletes have been blocked by the US? Clarifying that may help people understand your point.

 

[Ms Motts]

A couple of examples that have been reported in Australia. These are not major sporting events (except to the athletes involved), but I can imagine why the IOC is keen to ensure they are not the top of a slippery slope. My guess is this hard stand on Indonesia is at least partly a warning glance in the USA's direction.

Cuba's volleyball team blocked from US due to new visa restrictions

The Cuban women's volleyball team has been denied entry into Puerto Rico due to new visa restrictions that could impact future tournaments.

www.abc.net.au

'It is a mockery': Champion junior baseball team denied entry to the US

A team of Venezuelan teenagers is denied entry to the US, despite winning their way to compete in the Senior Baseball World Series.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Aeris]

Anyone can google and see lots of examples. Who knows how many people total have been affected, but definitely a large number. Here's some others in addition to the couple that were just posted:

Senegal women's hoops team denied U.S. visas

The prime minister of Senegal says the country's women's basketball team has canceled plans to train in the U.S. after visa applications of five players and seven officials were not approved.

www.espn.com

Brazilian table tennis star denied entry to US due to having competed in Cuba

Brazil’s Hugo Calderano, the 2025 World Cup champion, will miss this month’s WTT US Smash in Las Vegas after a visa issue linked to a past trip to Cuba

www.theguardian.com

There are many sports that never get primetime coverage, and gaming competitions, inherently all of those events could be deemed as not being "major". Since of course money and publicity are all that matter to society, not the human work/achievement of a particular thing.

 

[Beamer]

But in agreeing to host this World Championships, Indonesia gave their word that they would allow all nations in good standing to compete. Then, at the last second, they said, “Just kidding. We’re canceling the Israelis’ visas.”

What’s to prevent them from pulling this again after giving “adequate assurances” to the IOC that they will let all nations compete in an Olympics hosted in Indonesia? This is so stupid. Ban them.

 

[JaJa]

Anyone can google and see lots of examples. Who knows how many people total have been affected, but definitely a large number. Here's some others in addition to the couple that were just posted:

Senegal women's hoops team denied U.S. visas

The prime minister of Senegal says the country's women's basketball team has canceled plans to train in the U.S. after visa applications of five players and seven officials were not approved.

www.espn.com

Brazilian table tennis star denied entry to US due to having competed in Cuba

Brazil’s Hugo Calderano, the 2025 World Cup champion, will miss this month’s WTT US Smash in Las Vegas after a visa issue linked to a past trip to Cuba

www.theguardian.com

There are many sports that never get primetime coverage, and gaming competitions, inherently all of those events could be deemed as not being "major". Since of course money and publicity are all that matter to society, not the human work/achievement of a particular thing.

Look, you are mixing apples and oranges and thus, confusing the issue. Many Arab and Muslim nations ban Israelis, or even non Israelis with Israeli visa stamps in their passports from entering their country and as sovereign nations they have that right.
But if any specific sports federation has a rule that a country hosting its event can not ban athletes from any country from competing there (unless, let’s say that country had broken one of the federation’s rules) then that country should be banned from hosting that federations events. That’s the issue here. Not travel bans in general.