Menpora And The Minister Of SOEs Met FIFA President In Qatar, Bahas Preparation For The U20 World Cup

Gianni Infantino (Photo: FIFA)

JAKARTA - Indonesia will host world football competitions specifically for players under 20 years or U-20 in 2023. Various preparations continue to be made by the government. Recently, Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora) Zainudin Amali met FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Menpora was accompanied by Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir who had been in Qatari to fulfill Infantino's invitation. "The meeting of Mr. Menpora Zainudin Amali and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, discussed preparations for the U20 World Cup in Indonesia next year, in order to run well. Gianni Infantino supports President Jokowi's request to maximize the implementation of this activity," Erick said in an official statement, Monday, December 19. According to Erick, Qatar can be an example of a successful World Cup. One of the benchmarks of such success is Qatar's ability to present a lively sporting event, as well as introduce the beauty of Islamic culture through football. In the Qatar 2022 World Cup too, said Erick, football lovers can watch for the first time a male football match led by female referees. Amazingly, only at the 2022 Qatar World Cup is the enthusiasm of both direct and unusually high streaming because it has succeeded in reaching more than 2 billion viewers. The highest in World Cup history. "Hopefully the implementation of the U20 World Cup next year, Indonesia can match it, or even exceed Qatar's success. Amen," said Erick.

Currently, continued Erick, FIFA has issued a Regulation document for The FIFA U-20 World Cup Indonesia 2023. One of the things regulated in the regulation is the team that will compete. "As the host, Indonesia is given the right to include a team in this competition," he said. Erick said, it is planned that 24 teams will participate in this competition. They come from representatives of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC); the African Football Confederation (CAF); the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Football (Concacaf); the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), each with four teams. Then, the European Football Confederation (UEFA) received the most team quotas of five teams. The rest, there are two teams as rations for the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).