Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing

 

By James M. Dorsey

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Allegations of double standards go into one ear of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and out the other.

This week, the IOC halted all discussions with the Indonesian Olympic Committee about the hosting of future events and advised international sports associations to follow suit.

The IOC boycott constituted the Committee’s response to the Indonesian government’s cancellation of visas for Israeli athletes scheduled to compete in this week’s 53rd Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Jakarta.

In a statement, the IOC said the boycott “highlighted the IOC’s principled position: all eligible athletes, teams, and sports officials must be able to take part in international sports competitions and events without any form of discrimination by the host country.”

Earlier, the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected the Israel Gymnastics Federation’s request for an injunction that would allow Israeli athletes, including Olympic gold medalist Artem Dolgopyat, to participate in the championships.

The boycott contrasts starkly with the IOC and world soccer body FIFA’s silence about the US State Department’s refusal to issue visas for a nine-member Iranian Football Federation delegation that was scheduled to attend the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington in December.

The State Department declined to confirm or deny the refusal reported by Iranian media.  The absence of a State Department confirmation may be one reason why the IOC and FIFA have remained silent.

By refusing to warn the United States that rejecting of Iranian visa applications would violate IOC and FIFA statutes, the two sports associations were avoiding 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 together 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 Olympics hosted by Los Angeles.

Beyond the issue of double standards, the IOC and FIFA’s silence comes against the backdrop of repeated calls for a boycott of Israel because of its conduct of the Gaza war, FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s problematic ties to Mr. Trump, and Indonesia’s complex relationship with Israel.

Mr. Infantino has hewed close to the US president, repeatedly popping up at events involving Mr. Trump in which the FIFA executive had no immediate 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 endorsed the president’s proposal for ending the Gaza war.

The proposal involves the creation of an international stabilisation 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.

A proponent of the problematic notion that sports can be a driver rather than a tool for bridgebuilding, Mr. Infantino suggested his presence at a gathering “aimed at establishing a new era of regional security and stability” was important.

In May, Mr. Infantino arrived late for a FIFA Congress 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 business.

Subsequently, Mr. Infantino popped up in the Oval Office to present Mr. Trump with a personalised red card to brandish at those who step out of line, despite the president’s consistent authoritarian definition of who steps out of line and what constitutes stepping out of line.

The IOC’s sanctioning of Indonesia also contrasts starkly with FIFA’s awarding of 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 to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup because two provincial governors refused to allow Israel to participate.

Indonesia pulled out of hosting the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) World Beach Games a month after FIFA awarded it the Under-17 because of domestic opposition to Israeli participation.

With no diplomatic relations with Israel, Indonesia maintains informal contacts with the Jewish-majority state.

With no diplomatic relations with Israel, Indonesia maintains informal contacts with the Jewish-majority state.

At times, Israeli officials, analysts, and journalists quietly travel to the archipelago republic. Senior Muslim religious figures have visited Israel and, at least once, met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. At the same time, Indonesian tourists cross from Jordan into Israeli-controlled territory to visit religious shrines.

European soccer body UEFA recently postponed a vote that was likely to favour the suspension of Israel after Israel agreed to the first phase of Mr. Trump’s proposal, involving a ceasefire in the Gaza war and an exchange of the remaining dead and alive Hamas-held captives for Palestinians incarcerated in Israeli prisons and the remains of deceased Palestinians.

Indonesia’s barring of Israeli athletes is in line with Arab and Muslim-majority states’ decades-long refusal to engage with Israel on the sports field.

Although geographically part of Asia, Israeli soccer competes in Europe because the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) expelled the Jewish-majority state in 1974 at the behest of Arab and Muslim associations at a time when the Arab and much of the Muslim world refused to acknowledge Israel’s existence.

More recently, the charged environment in which Israeli athletes compete has expanded to Europe amid mounting public anger at Israel’s conduct of the Gaza war.

This month, authorities in Birmingham banned Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending their team’s Europa League match against Aston Villa because of fear that the Israeli club’s militant supporters’ presence risked violence.

A recent study by British anti-racism group Kick It Out and The Jewish-Arab Center for Peace reported that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans accounted for a third of the 67 per cent increase in the chanting of racist slogans in Israeli stadiums.

With athletics lacking the kind of passions evoked by soccer and the militant fans that often populate football stadiums, Indonesia’s refusal to accommodate Israeli athletes was motivated more by politics rather than security, even if the Israeli presence could have sparked protests in a country in which Palestine and Gaza resonate widely.

Even so, Indonesian concerns, like Mr. Infantino’s cozying up to Mr. Trump, make a mockery of the IOC, FIFA, and other international sports associations' insistence that sport and politics are separate and never shall the twain 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.