Usut Ketum PSSI Erick Thohir Lobi FIFA, Presiden Jokowi: Pemerintah Masih Berusaha Agar Ada Solusi Terbaik

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) revealed that FIFA was aware of the problem of rejecting the Israeli team's participation in the 2023 U-20 World Cup. Currently, the Indonesian Government and PSSI are trying to find the best way so that the status of the host of the 2023 U-20 World Cup remains in hand.

Indonesia's position as host of the U-20 World Cup is indeed under threat. This follows the rejection from several parties regarding the presence of the Israeli team.

The rejection even came from a number of parties, including Bali Governor I Wayan Koster and Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo.

"Currently, FIFA has known about the rejection of the Israeli national team's participation in the U-20 World Cup, but we, both the government and PSSI, are still trying to find the best solution," Jokowi said in a press statement broadcast live via the Presidential Secretariat YouTube channel, Tuesday, March 28.

Jokowi said that he had sent the General Chairperson of PSSI, Erick Thohir, to lobby FIFA. Hopefully, there will be a solution to this issue.

"I have sent the chairman of PSSI to meet with the FIFA team to find the best solution, find the best solution," said Jokowi.

Previously, Jokowi guaranteed that Israel's participation in this year's U-20 World Cup had nothing to do with the consistency of Indonesia's foreign political position towards Palestine. Indonesia firmly supports Palestine for independence.

He said the government agreed with the Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia that there were FIFA rules that must be obeyed.

"FIFA has rules that its members must obey. So don't mix and mix sports and political affairs," said the former governor of DKI Jakarta.

Jokowi said that Indonesia did not yet know who participated in the U-20 World Cup when it was appointed to host by FIFA in October 2019. The reason is, at that time the pre-qualification process was still ongoing.

"Israel's certainty of passing the U-20 World Cup selection is only known in July 2022," said President Jokowi.