JAKARTA - PSSI stated that they did not know the reason why the Israeli national team refused to play in the new U-20 World Cup was voiced later. Even though the country has qualified for the tournament which will take place in Indonesia since July 2022, after locking its status as a finalist for the U-19 European Cup.
Recently, two provinces that have been entrusted with being the venue for the U-20 World Cup have voiced rejection of the arrival of the Israeli national team. The two provinces are Central Java and Bali so that they have an impact on canceling the draw for the U-20 World Cup group participants, which is scheduled for Bali, March 31.
"We also don't know why it's only now. So this rejection is only now, before there was no crowds with this problem. But we have to face everything there is," said PSSI executive committee member Arya Sinulingga, at a press conference at the Jakarta Arena GBK, Sunday.
The presence of Israeli athletes to Indonesia for individual sports has happened before and including badminton player MIsha Zilberman who participated in the 2015 BWF World Championship at Istora Senayan, Jakarta. In addition, cyclists Mikhail Yakovlev have also gained achievements at the 2023 UCI Track Nations event in Jakarta.
Arya stated that PSSI is still looking for a solution to this problem. He is worried that the sanctions that are likely to be imposed on Indonesia if it turns out that this country is deemed unable to hold the U-20 World Cup according to the initial agreement with FIFA.
"Violating the rules because we proposed to be the host, because there is already a name, we will organize everything well and take good care of all participants when we propose. When we say that we can't do this, we can't do that, we violate what we have agreed with FIFA ourselves," Arya added as quoted by Antara.
Arya said that all efforts would be carried out by the General Chairperson of PSSI and his staff to lobby and communicate with various parties, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, to FIFA.
As for communication with the Bali Provincial Government, Arya said it had been done and PSSI respected the attitude taken by the Bali Provincial Government.
Indonesia volunteered to host the U-20 World Cup in 2019, and managed to get this trust after setting aside two of its competitors in the top three, namely Brazil and Peru.
Initially, the event was scheduled to take place in 2021, but the problem of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the implementation to be shifted to 2023.
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