Indonesia cancels visas of Israeli worlds team

[OnoNoKomachi]

I think the competition will go on but the results will be nullified.
That's probably the best we can hope for.
Most gymnasts there aren't going to be winning anything. They are there to participate and see their friends. Spectators go to watch. It wouldn't be the worst thing.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

I'm on holiday for some of worlds, and when I first realised the dates were the same I was ruing the clash. As time passes, I feel increasingly grateful.

 

[JaJa]

I think the competition will go on but the results will be nullified.
That's probably the best we can hope for.
It wouldn't be the worst thing.

I think it would be extremely disspiriting, especially for the medalists. Not sure what the best or appropriate way to go at this point would be. As for me, I will likely do my own personal Boycott of the games. Not that one single solitary soul will care . . . . .

 

[OnoNoKomachi]

I think it would be extremely disspiriting, especially for the medalists. Not sure what the best or appropriate way to go at this point would be. As for me, I will likely do my own personal Boycott of the games. Not that one single solitary soul will care . . . . .

It would suck for sure. But it is less bad than cancelling.

If the results don't count, watch the US men win Gold in everything they enter and go one two on PH.

 

[irichluck21]

I liked the idea of having Israeli gymnasts submit a live video of their routines and having the judges score them as they would at Worlds.

Nullifying the results does nothing to Indonesia.

FIG should ban Indonesia from the next two Worlds for this infraction or suspend their participation for a set amount of time. Banning them from the Asian Championships would not allow them to compete at Worlds, since that is the qualifier.

 

[JaJa]

I liked the idea of having Israeli gymnasts submit a live video of their routines and having the judges score them as they would at Worlds.

Nullifying the results does nothing to Indonesia.

FIG should ban Indonesia from the next two Worlds for this infraction or suspend their participation for a set amount of time. Banning them from the Asian Championships would not allow them to compete at Worlds, since that is the qualifier.

I agree with all of this. Nullifying the results punishes all the wrong people.

 

[OnoNoKomachi]

Nullifying the results does nothing to Indonesia.

FIG should ban Indonesia from the next two Worlds for this infraction or suspend their participation for a set amount of time. Banning them from the Asian Championships would not allow them to compete at Worlds, since that is the qualifier.

I predict there will be sanctions placed on Indonesia. There should be. If you look at the post about the history of Indonesia and Israeli athletes, there is precedent. They were banned from the Olympics (although I doubt the IOC would do it over this). The FIG can and should fine them and ban them.

Regardless of how anyone feels about Israel, what Indonesia did was a dick move. There should be a message sent that pulling this kind of stunt will have consequences.

I don't think nullification is a great idea. It's just less bad than cancelling. The ideal would be Israel is allowed to compete, followed by the show just goes on and Indonesia faces some hard consequences.

 

[irichluck21]

Of course, Indonesia did this in the past along with other Asian Muslim majority countries. This is why Israel was not allowed to participate in Asian competitions in sport and joined Europe. Israel tried to compete in FIFA World Cup qualifiers but kept getting blocked as other countries refused to compete.

Israel technically qualified to the 1958 World Cup because it had wins from the forfeits and they never actually played a match against a competitor. Turkey, Indonesia, Egypt, Sudan all withdrew from the qualifying tournament rather than face Israel. This was unprecedented so FIFA added a last minute rule to the qualification stating a team needed to have at least one win to qualify to the World Cup. So because of this rule, Israel was asked to compete against the last eliminated European team. Belgium was selected to compete against them and refused. Wales was drawn next. Wales defeated Israel 2-0 and as a result qualified to the World Cup in place of the Africa/Asia Conference which Israel had won by default.

Israel was given hosting rights for the 1964 Asian Cup. Out of 15 competing teams, 11 withdrew. Afghanistan, Cambodia, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of China, and Singapore did not attend.
North Korea, Japan, and India competed. With only 4 teams, Israel won the competition.

Other incidents happened through the years, culminating at the 1974 Asian Games held in Iran.
Iran and Israel competed in the final match, with Iran winning 1-0. At these games, Kuwait brought forward a motion to permanently ban Israel from the Asian Cup. The motion passed with 17 countries voting for expulsion and 13 countries against it. 6 countries did not vote.

With Israel being forced out of Asian Cup as a qualifier for the World Cup, they had no option qualify to a future World Cup.

Israel was moved to Europe (UEFA) in 1982,. Due to the difficulty of the continental conference, Israel was moved to Oceania for 1986 and 1990. Israel was formally returned to Europe for 1994.


Indonesia revoking the visas and banning Israel from Worlds is not the first World competition in which Israel was banned.
Israel was also banned from the 2024 World Ice Hockey Championships, held in Czechia. The same reason was stated for Israel's exclusion: security concerns after October 7 and not being able to provide safety for all the competitors. It was later reversed and Israel was able to compete at the U20 World Ice Hockey Championships later in 2024.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Israel technically qualified to the 1958 World Cup because it had wins from the forfeits and they never actually played a match against a competitor. Turkey, Indonesia, Egypt, Sudan all withdrew from the qualifying tournament rather than face Israel. This was unprecedented so FIFA added a last minute rule to the qualification stating a team needed to have at least one win to qualify to the World Cup. So because of this rule, Israel was asked to compete against the last eliminated European team. Belgium was selected to compete against them and refused. Wales was drawn next. Wales defeated Israel 2-0 and as a result qualified to the World Cup in place of the Africa/Asia Conference which Israel had won by default.

Thus giving rise to a well known pub quiz question.

 

[CDEllorin]

I think the competition will go on but the results will be nullified.
That's probably the best we can hope for.
Most gymnasts there aren't going to be winning anything. They are there to participate and see their friends. Spectators go to watch. It wouldn't be the worst thing.

I’m really surprised that Indonesia is not getting any sanctions for pulling this stunt. This truly has been a cluster.

 

[FrolovasDoubleLayout]

I’m really surprised that Indonesia is not getting any sanctions for pulling this stunt. This truly has been a cluster.

Well, look at who would be doing the sanctioning coughFIGcough.

 

[RedBirdie]

Indonesia revoking the visas and banning Israel from Worlds is not the first World competition in which Israel was banned.
Israel was also banned from the 2024 World Ice Hockey Championships, held in Czechia. The same reason was stated for Israel's exclusion: security concerns after October 7 and not being able to provide safety for all the competitors. It was later reversed and Israel was able to compete at the U20 World Ice Hockey Championships later in 2024.

Israel currently plays in IIHF Division II A for men's ice hockey. Their 2024 world championship was in Serbia, and Israel was definitely there. They were briefly refused, but two days later the IIHF reversed course and Israel's participation was never in doubt after mid-January. Czechia hosted the elite division world championship that year, but Israel isn't anywhere good enough to participate at that level. (IIHF has 8 divisions for senior men, with separate world championship for each)

U20 worlds actually take place in January of a given year, so Israel's junior team competed (and finished first in Division III Group A) at worlds months before the senior worlds.