Indonesia failed to host the 2023 U-20 World Cup. This decision was announced by FIFA through its official website on Wednesday (29/3/2023) evening. FIFA said that they had canceled Indonesia’s hosting status due to the current circumstances.
One of the factors that influenced FIFA’s decision was the rejection of the Israeli national team, which is a candidate for the U-20 World Cup. Several parties in Indonesia oppose Israel’s presence in the country for political and humanitarian reasons. The Governor of Bali, I Wayan Koster, even said that Bali was not willing to host matches involving Israel.
This rejection made FIFA cancel the process of drawing group participants which should have taken place on Friday (31/3). FIFA also said they would name a replacement host soon, with the tournament date remaining unchanged. In addition, FIFA also threatened to sanction PSSI as the parent of Indonesian football.
Sanctions that may be given by FIFA are fines, banning from participating in international tournaments, or even freezing PSSI membership. This will certainly have a negative impact on the development of Indonesian football in the future.
Nevertheless, FIFA remains committed to helping PSSI in the process of transforming Indonesian football after the tragedy that occurred in October 2022. The tragedy was the death of 12 people due to riots during the match between Arema FC and Persija Jakarta at the Kanjuruhan Stadium, Malang. FIFA will send a team to Indonesia in the coming months to provide the assistance needed by PSSI.
Indonesia’s cancellation as host for the 2023 U-20 World Cup is a serious blow to all football lovers in the country. In fact, many preparations have been made, starting from revitalizing the stadium to releasing the song and teaser video Glorious as the official soundtrack for the tournament. The song was composed by Weird Genius and sung by Lyodra, Tiara Andini and Ziva Magnolya. But unfortunately, the song has also been removed from the FIFA website.
Indonesia actually has great potential to host the 2023 U-20 World Cup. Apart from having quality stadiums in six cities, namely Jakarta, Bandung, Solo, Palembang, Bali and Surabaya, Indonesia also has full support from the government and society. The budget prepared for holding this tournament reaches IDR 3.07 trillion.
The 2023 U-20 World Cup was supposed to be an event to promote Indonesian football on the international stage. In addition, this tournament can also be an opportunity for the U-20 Indonesian national team to show their abilities and achievements. But now, all those hopes have vanished because of FIFA’s decision.
