CAS Rejects Israel's Athletes Appeal For The World Gymnastics Championships In Indonesia

JAKARTA The Court of Arbitration Sports (CAS) rejected the appeal of the Israeli Gymnastics Federation (IGF) regarding the visa of their athletes for the 2025 Artistic Gymnastics World Championship which was rejected by the Indonesian Government.

ESPN reported CAS in its decision also rejected IGF's request to move and even cancel the World Championships scheduled to take place in Jakarta starting Sunday, October 19, 2025.

The decision to reject Israeli athletes is in line with Indonesia's foreign political stance that opposes Israeli military aggression in Gaza and supports Palestinian independence.

In a statement, Swiss-based CAS explained that the FIG (International Gymnastics Federation) has conveyed that it has no authority over the visa policy of a country, including Indonesia's decision to reject the arrival of the Israeli team.

Although in the FIG rules, it is stated that the host can lose the right to organize if they refuse to issue visas for participants, they do not issue similar threats to Indonesia.

Israel is one of 86 countries registered to compete in the World Championships. In the initial list, the Israeli team fielded the 2020 Tokyo Olympics champion and the men's floor gymnastics world champion, Artem Dolgopyat.

However, their participation has now been officially canceled even though the Israeli Gymnastics Federation claimed in July 2025 that it had received guarantees from Indonesian authorities to be able to compete.

If true, it would be an exception to Indonesia's policy that so far has not opened the door for Israeli sports delegates in international events.

This dispute is the latest example of how the global condemnation of Israel's actions in Gaza has now spread to the world of international sport and culture.