Israel Wants World Gymnastics Championships In Indonesia To Be Postponed

Israeli gymnastics athlete Artem Dolgopyat should have appeared in Jakarta. (Doc. INSTAGRAM @dolgopyat_artem)

JAKARTA Israel will ask the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to intervene after their athletes do not receive an Indonesian entry visa to participate in the 2025 World Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta this month.

The 2025 Artistic Gymnastics Championships World Gymnastics Championships 2025 is scheduled to take place on October 19-25 at the nearest Indonesia Arena, Senayan, Jakarta.

Israel certainly could not participate in the event because the Indonesian government would not issue visas for their athletes.

This situation made Israel react. The chairman of the Israeli Olympic Committee and also an IOC member, Yael Arad, decided to contact the IOC and ask for intervention.

In addition, the Israeli Gymnastics Federation is also considering filing an appeal to the Court of Arbitration Sports (CAS) for the world championship to be postponed until Israeli athletes are allowed to compete.

"We have made extensive efforts in recent weeks, along with the Israeli Olympic Committee and other international parties, to allow Israeli gymnastics athletes to participate," Arad said.

In the same report, the Israeli Gymnastics Federation also admitted that it had not received an official notification from the relevant parties but was aware of the decision from international media coverage.

They also regretted Indonesia's decision to refuse the visa of Israeli athletes to be carried out just one week before the championship. In fact, their athlete plans to leave for Indonesia at the beginning of tomorrow.

"We still hope that the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the Indonesian government respect the Olympic Charter and allow the Israeli team to compete like other delegates. Otherwise, we will take all available routes," Arad said.

Israel's certainty that it cannot go to Jakarta is confirmed by the General Chairperson of the Indonesian Gymnastics Association (PB Persani) Ita Yuliati at a press conference in Jakarta on Friday, October 10 yesterday.

Ita said that in an official telephone call to her, she had expressed support for Indonesia's stance to refuse visas to enter the Israeli contingent.

Prior to that, the Minister of Immigration and Corrections (Imipas) Agus Andrianto had already confirmed the cancellation of the Israeli contingent visa after receiving a request from PB Persani.

"The entire immigration process has been transparent and accountable according to regulations. And the cancellation of this visa is a follow-up to the initiative and official application from the guarantor," said Agus.