Politics And Sports: FIFA And IOC Double Standards Against Israel

Photo Illustration By Andry Winarko VOI

JAKARTA The last 2023 U-20 World Cup event which was scheduled to take place in Indonesia was canceled by the World Football Federation or FIFA. Although he did not reveal the cause, one of the allegations that emerged was the emergence of rejection of the participation of the Israeli national team by the then Governor of Central Java, Ganjar Pranowo.

Yes, although it is considered to be able to bring benefits both from an economic and sporting perspective, Ganjar firmly rejects Israel's presence in the territory it leads. The reason is none other than the aggression carried out by Israel against Palestine which is even still ongoing today.

Ganjar emphasized that this rejection was a form of joint effort to support Palestinian independence in accordance with the mandate of the first President of the Republic of Indonesia, Soekarno. We already know how Bung Karno's commitment to Palestine, both voiced at the Asia Africa Conference, Non-Aligned Movement, and also at the Conference of the New Emerging Forces. So yes, we follow his mandate," he explained, Thursday, March 23, 2023.

In addition, the rejection of Israel was decided after Ganjar continued to observe violent acts that tended to increase in Palestine. Especially with the emergence of political groups in the Israeli government who refuse to recognize the existence of an independent Palestinian nation and state. "Therefore, it is important for us to continue to voice our support for the struggle for independent Palestine," he added.

The failure to host the U-20 World Cup made President Joko Widodo speak up. He considered that political affairs should not be mixed with sports. This is a democratic country. The most important thing is not to mix it. I have said it, don't mix it. There is a political area, there is a sport," said Jokowi.

Perhaps President Jokowi's statement is true, although it seems historical. The reason is, there have been many examples where political affairs influence sports and vice versa. In fact, FIFA itself has mixed politics and football. In this case, it is a response to the invasion carried out by Russia into Ukraine.

The Russian national team became a victim of FIFA due to President Vladimir Putin's political decision. When Russia invaded Ukraine, FIFA and the European Football Association (UEFA) banned the Russian national team from playing the 2022 World Cup playoffs. As a result, Artem Dzyuba et al had to bury their dreams of appearing in Qatar.

Returning to Israel, at least Ganjar Pranowo's firmness against the Zionist state's participation showed there was no double standard from the PDI-P politician in responding to Israeli and Russian political policies.

This is different from the attitude taken by FIFA, which seemed silent when Israel carried out aggression against the Palestinian territories. This led to allegations that the agency led by Gianni Infantino had implemented double standards on Israel.

Most recently, FIFA has postponed its decision on the Palestinian proposal to suspend Israel's participation in international football related to genocide in the Gaza Strip that killed many football players. This decision is clearly in contrast to FIFA's 2022 stance which immediately banned the Russian national team from competing after the invasion of Ukraine.

FIFA's decision to pave the way for the Israeli national team to stay in the current Paris Olympics football sport. In fact, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) has submitted a proposal to suspend Israel's participation in May, and FIFA ordered an urgent legal evaluation, and pledged to discuss it at its board's extraordinary meeting in July.

Football And Politics Cannot Be Separated

The double standards applied by FIFA in the case of Russia and Israel also received the spotlight of the Chairman of the House of Representatives' Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Agency (BKSAP), Fadli Zon. According to him, so far FIFA has implemented double standards in football politics. At least, there are two reasons why FIFA is considered the same. First, FIFA looks inconsistent with the ban on football politicization.

When FIFA and UEFA imposed a ban on the national team and Russian clubs to participate in all competitions under FIFA and UEFA, as well as banning Belarusian clubs and national teams from playing games at home as sanctions for their support for Russia in Ukraine's war, is that not a political ban? He said.

Like it or not, continued Fadli, football can never be separated from politics. Because football is a sport that can gather millions of people and billions of spectators, so that it can become a strategic political stage.

Second, FIFA demands that all countries be fair to Israeli athletes, even though Israel itself has never been fair to Palestinian athletes and sports worlds. Although not widely exposed by international mainstream media, it is no longer a secret that the Israeli military has long made the sport and Palestinian athletes their targets of attack.

In November 2006, for example, the Israeli military prevented all Palestinian football athletes from participating in the final match of the AFC qualifying group stage. The action that is not easy to forget is when Israel does not allow players and Palestinian team officials to participate in the 2010 World Cup qualifying match against Singapore, added Fadli.

So, it is highly irrelevant if FIFA defends Israeli athletes on the pretext of fair play. The Israeli athletes should be charged with moral responsibility for the brutal and unfair actions carried out by their government against Palestinian athletes and the sports world," continued the Gerindra Party politician.

He emphasized that the two reasons had been sufficient to show that so far FIFA had been unfair and implemented double standards in football's policy''. This shows that FIFA is still not free from double standards. FIFA only defends the interests of Israel, but ignores the position and opinions of other countries regarding the colonial country," he concluded.

Double Standards Against Israel Collapses IOC Credibility

Not only FIFA, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is also accused of having double standards against Israel. The IOC still prohibits athletes from Russia and Belarus from appearing to represent their respective countries at the 2024 Paris Olympics. As a result, 15 Russian athletes and 18 Belarusian athletes competed as Individual Neutral Athletes (AMEN). If they got medals, the national anthem and flag of the two countries were not displayed, and their medal record was also not included in the standings.

On the other hand, Israeli athletes are still allowed to compete on behalf of their country at the Paris Olympics. It was this IOC double standard that eventually put pressure on the Israeli football national team. They were ridiculed and intimidated against the Mali national team in the men's football Group D phase at the Parc des Princes Stadium, Thursday, July 25, 2024 in the morning WIB.

Quoted from the tweet of the X account of journalist Luc Auffret, a number of jokes came from the stands because many parties criticized Israel's aggression against Palestine which is still ongoing today. The audience lined up neatly by forming the words Free Palestine. They also shouted the song Free Palestine.

The jokes of the audience in the stands were even more evident when the Israeli song was played before the start of the match. The volume of loudspeakers was raised so that the song was heard because the audience shouted out. Auffret said.

IOC member as president of the Olympic Coordination Commission, Pierre-Olivier Beckers argued that Israel was not punished because the Israeli Sports Federation did not interfere with the Palestinian Sports Federation. This is different from Russia, which the IOC considers to have annexed a number of sports federations in Ukraine.

"Sanctions against Russia are based on the fact that Russia and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) have violated an important element of the Olympics, namely the Olympic Charter. Russia was convicted of annexation of sports organizations in several regions of Ukraine. At the same time, the Olympic Committee of Israel and Palestine coexisted peacefully, "he said as reported by Marca.

International Relations Expert from the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM), Hafid Adim Pradana, assessed that the double standards applied by FIFA and IOC in cases of Russia and Israel would undermine the credibility of the two institutions.

He said, when formulating the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin wanted the event to be an effort to build better relations between European countries who at that time hated each other.

FIFA and the IOC must be able to apply fair standards related to their position related to conflict and war. In fact, not a single country should be banned from participating in sports championships because of government actions," he said.

The sanctions applied must be aimed at the government and officials, not athletes who do not necessarily agree with the steps of their country. If the IOC continues to be non-objective, the Olympic movement will experience setbacks, and rivals can emerge in the future," concluded Hafid.