The draw for the competition, which was to take place in Bali on Friday March 31, was canceled at the last minute and postponed by Fifa. The reason: the governor of Bali refuses to let the Israeli selection play on his soil.
There is something not quite right in the world of football. Indonesia, the first Muslim country in the world in terms of population, was to organize the Under-20 Football World Cup from May 20 to June 11, 2023. But nothing is more certain. The draw for the competition, which was to take place in Bali on Friday March 31, was canceled at the last minute and postponed by Fifa. The reason: the governor of Bali refuses to let the Israeli selection play on his soil, and calls on the Indonesian government to show “diplomatic consistency”.
>> World Cup 2022: five things to know about Gianni Infantino, the very influential president of Fifa
Indeed, officially, Jakarta, support of the Palestinian people, does not recognize the existence of Israel and has no diplomatic relations with the Jewish state. For Wayan Koster, the governor of the state of Bali, under pressure from conservative religious groups, there is no question of welcoming these players to his home. The Indonesian government, guarantor of the smooth running of the World Cup, tried to negotiate with him. Without success so far. This is what prompted Fifa to cancel Friday’s draw, and raised questions about its president, Gianni Infantino: should Israel’s matches be moved to a neighbor in Asia? Is security sufficient elsewhere in the country?
For Jean-Baptiste Guégan, specialist in the geopolitics of sport, the puzzle seems complicated, but not insoluble. “QIf the matches are organized outside the country, it would be a breach of equality, and for the Israeli selection and for the others. So it’s unthinkable. On the other hand, if the matches take place elsewhere than the state of Bali, Fifa must obtain guarantees. There, the problem is no longer linked to football, it is political. he deciphers.
“The solution is not simple, but this is where we will see the lofty view of Fifa and the political skill of Gianni Infantino, but also the limit of its room for maneuver.”
Jean-Baptiste Gueganat franceinfo
In the event of a political stalemate, Fifa could also choose to withdraw the Israeli selection, for security reasons. An extreme situation from which neither football nor the participating countries would emerge is growing.