By James M. Dorsey
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Accusations of double standards go in one ear of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and out the other.
This week is the The IOC stopped all discussions with the Indonesian Olympic Committee on organizing future events and advised international sports associations to follow suit.
The IOC boycott was the Committee’s response to that of the Indonesian government cancellation of visas for Israeli athletes who will compete in the 53rd World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta this week.
In a statement, the IOC said the boycott “highlighted the IOC’s principled position: all eligible athletes, teams and sports officials should be able to participate in international sporting competitions and events without any form of discrimination by the host country.”
The Court of Arbitration for Sport previously rejected the ruling Request from the Israeli Gymnastics Federation for an order that would allow Israeli athletes, including Olympic gold medalist Artem Dolgopyat, to participate in the championships.
The boycott is in stark contrast to the silence of the IOC and world football governing body FIFA over the US State Department’s refusal to issue visas to a nine-member delegation from the Iranian football federation that was due to attend the World Cup draw in Washington in December 2026.
The State Department declined to confirm or deny the denial Iranian media.
The lack of confirmation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be a reason why the IOC and FIFA remain silent.
By refusing to warn the United States that rejecting Iranian visa applications would violate the statutes of the IOC and FIFA, the two sports associations avoided getting on the wrong side of US President Donald Trump.
Well-placed sources suggested FIFA could move the draw to Mexico, which is co-hosting next year’s World Cup with Canada and the United States.
The status of Iranian officials, athletes and fans is not only a World Cup issue, but also for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Leaving aside the issue of double standards, the silence of the IOC and FIFA comes against the backdrop of repeated calls for a boycott of Israel because of the behavior of the Gaza war, that of FIFA president Gianni Infantino problematic ties with Mr. Trumpand Indonesia’s complex relationship with Israel.
Mr Infantino has had close ties to the US president, repeatedly appearing at events involving Mr Trump, where the FIFA director had no direct business.
Most recently, Mr. Infantino appeared on stage for a group photo at Mr. Trump’s peace summit earlier this month in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where Arab, Muslim and European leaders showed their support the president’s proposal for ending the Gaza war.
The proposal includes the creation of an international stabilization force to maintain security in post-war Gaza.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who attended the summit, has offered to contribute 20,000 troops to the force.
Supporting the problematic idea that sport can be a motivator rather than a bridge-building tool, Mr Infantino suggested his presence at a meeting “aimed at establishing a new era of regional security and stability” was important.
In May, Mr. Infantino arrived late for a FIFA conference in Paraguay because he placed greater importance on accompanying Mr Trump on a visit to the Gulf that had nothing to do with FIFA-related matters.
Mr. Infantino then appeared in the Oval Office to give Mr. Trump a personalized red card to wave at those who step out of line, despite the president’s consistent authoritarian definition of who steps out of line and what stepping out of line entails.
The sanctions imposed on Indonesia by the IOC also contrast with FIFA awarding Indonesia the hosting rights for that year’s Under-17 World Cup in June 2023. Israel did not qualify for the tournament.
FIFA awarded the rights three months after Indonesia lost the hosting rights for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup because two provincial governors refused to allow Israel to participate.
Indonesia withdrew from hosting the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) World Beach Games a month after FIFA awarded it the Under-17s due to domestic opposition to Israeli participation.
Because there are no diplomatic relations with Israel, Indonesia maintains informal contacts with the Jewish-majority state.
Because there are no diplomatic relations with Israel, Indonesia maintains informal contacts with the Jewish-majority state.
Sometimes Israeli officials, analysts and journalists travel quietly to the archipelago republic. Senior Muslim religious figures have visited Israel and met Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at least once. At the same time, Indonesian tourists from Jordan cross into Israeli-controlled territory to visit religious shrines.
European football body UEFA recently postponed a vote likely to favor Israel’s suspension after Israel agreed to the first phase of Mr. Trump’s proposal, which included a ceasefire in the Gaza war and an exchange of the remaining dead and living Hamas prisoners for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and the remains remains of deceased Palestinians.
Indonesia’s banning of Israeli athletes is in line with the decades-long refusal of Arab and Muslim-majority states to engage with Israel on the sports field.
Although geographically part of Asia, Israeli football competes in Europe because the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) expelled the Jewish-majority state in 1974 at the insistence of Arab and Muslim associations, at a time when the Arab and much of the Muslim world refused to recognize Israel’s existence.
More recently, the charged environment in which Israeli athletes compete has expanded to Europe, amid growing public anger over Israel’s conduct in the Gaza war.
This month, authorities in Birmingham banned Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending their team’s Europa League match against Aston Villa, fearing the presence of militant supporters of the Israeli club risked violence.
A recent study from British anti-racism group Kick It Out and the Jewish Arab Center for Peace reported that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were responsible for a third of the 67 percent increase in chanting of racist slogans in Israeli stadiums.
Because athletics lacks the kind of passions evoked by soccer and the militant fans that often populate soccer stadiums, Indonesia’s refusal to host Israeli athletes was motivated by politics rather than security, even if the Israeli presence could have sparked protests in a country where Palestine and Gaza resonate strongly.
Yet Indonesian concerns such as the meeting between Mr Infantino and Mr Trump make a mockery of the insistence of the IOC, FIFA and other international sports associations that sport and politics are separate and that the two will never meet.
Dr. James M. Dorsey is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, and the author of the syndicated column and podcast, The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey.
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