It looks like the Indonesian government needs to rethink the idea of promoting sport tourism in Bali by hosting major events.
Bali Governor Wayan Koster reaffirmed his position of rejecting Israeli athletes from entering the island ahead of the 2023 World Beach Games (official name: 2023 ANOC World Beach Games), which are scheduled to be held in Bali from Aug 5-12.
The statement comes about two weeks after the island’s top official rejected the Israeli soccer team from competing in Bali for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup, which resulted in Indonesia losing its hosting rights.
“I still reject the appearance of Israel in Bali, including in the upcoming ANOC World Beach Games,” he said yesterday, arguing that he was merely basing his stance on Indonesia’s constitution and foreign policy.
Israeli athletes have qualified for the 2023 ANOC World Beach Games in the open-water swimming and 3×3 basketball competitions.
Last week, the chairman of Indonesian Olympics Committee (KOI), Raja Sapta “Okto” Oktohari said that it would still be possible for Israeli athletes to compete at the multi-sport event organized by the Association of National Olympic Committees.
But, hey, we all know how the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup fiasco ended. So perhaps it is fair to say that the chances for the 2023 ANOC World Beach Games going ahead as planned after Koster’s statement are… excuse us while we bury our heads in the sand.
