Indonesia in FIFA talks after U-20 World Cup Israel protests

JAKARTA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo said Tuesday he was sending the country’s football association chief for talks with FIFA about its hosting of the Under-20 World Cup after the draw was nixed following protests over Israel’s participation.

The two countries do not have formal diplomatic relations, and support for the Palestinian cause in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation runs high, fuelling local opposition to hosting the Israeli team.

Widodo said he had dispatched Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) head and minister for state-owned enterprises Erick Thohir to Switzerland where FIFA is headquartered as uncertainty swirls over the competition’s location.

“I have sent PSSI chief Erick Thohir to meet with FIFA team to look for the best solution,” Widodo said in a livestreamed speech. He did not specify when Thohir -- a former chairman of Inter Milan -- would fly or which FIFA officials he would meet.

Fixtures for the 24-nation tournament beginning in May were due to be chosen on Friday in Bali, but FIFA cancelled the event without reason or setting a new date. Indonesian officials said a rejection from Bali’s governor to hosting Israel on the Hindu-majority island and call for it to be thrown out of the cup because of its policies towards the Palestinians was likely behind the draw’s cancellation.

Around a hundred conservative Muslim demonstrators also marched in the capital Jakarta this month to protest Israel’s involvement. FIFA is yet to comment on the tournament and where it will be held after the draw was nixed.

The Indonesian president said sport and politics should not clash after the calls for Israel to be removed from the tournament. “I guarantee the participation of Israel has nothing to do with the consistency of our foreign policy to Palestine. Because our support to Palestine is always strong and firm. So don’t mix sports with politics,” he said in the video.

Widodo’s intervention came as fears grew that Indonesia could face sanctions and isolation on the global football stage if it could not guarantee Israel’s participation. The U-20 tournament would represent the first major football competition hosted by the Southeast Asian archipelago nation.

The country would also be holding the tournament under the cloud of one of the worst stadium disasters in the sport’s history after 135 people died in an East Java stadium stampede in October.