{"id":66281,"date":"2025-10-10T17:41:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T17:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/66281\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T17:41:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T17:41:10","slug":"gymnastics-governing-body-reacts-to-indonesias-block-on-israeli-team-at-worlds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/66281\/","title":{"rendered":"Gymnastics governing body reacts to Indonesia’s block on Israeli team at worlds"},"content":{"rendered":"

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) \u2014 Gymnastics\u2019 governing body gave a muted reaction Friday to Indonesia\u2019s announcement that it would block Israeli athletes<\/a> from competing at the upcoming world championships in Jakarta.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe FIG takes note of the Indonesian government\u2019s decision not to issue visas to the Israeli delegation registered for the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics, which will be held in Jakarta from 19-25 October, and recognizes the challenges that the host country has faced in organizing this event,\u201d it said in a short statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The statement did not threaten to take the event away from Indonesia, as stipulated in FIG statutes for cases where the host refuses to issue visas. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe FIG hopes that an environment will be created as soon as possible where athletes around the world can enjoy sports safely and with peace of mind,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Indonesia\u2019s decision to deny visas to the Israeli athletes came after their planned participation had sparked intense opposition in the world\u2019s most populous Muslim-majority nation, which has long been a staunch supporter of Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Israel is among 86 countries registered to compete at the worlds, with a team highlighted by 2020 Olympic gold medalist and defending world champion Artem Dolgopyat in the men\u2019s floor exercise. <\/p>\n

Now its participation is in doubt, even though the Israeli Gymnastics Federation said in July that it had been assured by Indonesian officials that it would be welcome at the worlds. That would have gone against Indonesia\u2019s long-standing policy of refusing to host Israeli sports delegations for major events. <\/p>\n

On Thursday, Indonesia\u2019s senior minister of law, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, made it clear the Israeli team will not be allowed into the country, despite Israel and Hamas having agreed to a ceasefire<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe respect every decision taken by the government with various considerations,\u201d Indonesian Olympic Committee president Raja Sapta Oktohari told a news conference in Jakarta on Friday.<\/p>\n

Indonesian Gymnastics Federation chairwoman, Ita Yuliati, said that she has briefed FIG president Morinari Watanabe about the decision and claimed \u201cthe FIG has expressed support.\u201d<\/p>\n

The gymnastics spat is the latest example of how the global backlash against Israel<\/a> over the humanitarian toll of the war in Gaza has spread into the arenas of sports and culture.<\/p>\n

Indonesia was stripped<\/a> of hosting rights for soccer\u2019s Under-20 World Cup in 2023 only two months before the start of the tournament amid political turmoil regarding Israel\u2019s participation.<\/p>\n

Instead of disciplining Indonesia, FIFA awarded the country hosting rights to a different youth World Cup later that year that Israel had not qualified for.<\/p>\n

Indonesian soccer was seen to benefit from its leader Erick Thohir\u2019s close ties with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who like Thohir is a member of the International Olympic Committee.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press journalists Edna Tarigan and Dita Alangkara in Jakarta, Indonesia, and AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Geneva, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP sports: https:\/\/apnews.com\/sports<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) \u2014 Gymnastics\u2019 governing body gave a muted reaction Friday to Indonesia\u2019s announcement that it would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1631,122,39676,16080,85,1445,48055,9151,46,1984,61,48056,2034,43,2032,48057,19711,105,126,48058],"class_list":["post-66281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-asia-pacific","tag-general-news","tag-gianni-infantino","tag-gymnastics","tag-il","tag-indonesia","tag-indonesia-government","tag-islam","tag-israel","tag-israel-government","tag-israel-hamas-war","tag-ita-yuliati","tag-mideast-wars","tag-news","tag-palestinian-territories-government","tag-raja-sapta-oktohari","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-world-news","tag-yusril-ihza-mahendra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}