FIFA only has a few days to smooth things over in Indonesia.
The draw for the U20 World Cup was due to take place on March 31, however it was suddenly canceled and a new scandal is on the horizon. FIFA is in a huge problem because the governor of Bali, the city where the draw was supposed to be held, refused to host Israel and does not want to give in even though it is an international competition.
Unofficial information says that the Football Association of Indonesia has informed FIFA that the draw will not be held on Friday, which will leave president Gianni Infantino with his hands full. On the one hand, he can take away the hosting from Indonesia, after which there would be big problems due to the organization of the tournament in May, that is, he can give in and expel the debutant Israel, which would be a scandal of incredible proportions.
Previously, “Jakarta Post” wrote that the governor of Bali, Wayan Koster, wrote to the Ministry of Sports and asked them to pass a law that would ban Israel from participating in the tournament due to the long-standing conflicts with Palestine, but this has not happened yet.
FIFA still has no guarantee that the Israelis are welcome, let alone safe, at the draw, especially given the fan protests earlier this month. They marched through the capital, Jakarta, with the flags of Indonesia and Palestine, asking the authorities not to even accidentally allow young Israeli soccer players to participate. Let’s recall that Indonesia is the country where the largest number of Muslims live, and in recent years the number of “conservative” ones has been growing.
In the tournament that Serbia won in 2015, in addition to the aforementioned Israel and Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Gambia, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, USA, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Fiji, New Zealand, England, France, Italy and Slovakia.
(WORLD)