Olympic chiefs slap Indonesia with hosting ban over exclusion of Israeli gymnasts
International Olympic Committee ends any talk of country hosting future events, urges all international federations to do same
Olympic chiefs have ruled out any dialogue with Indonesia about hosting future events after Jakarta’s refusal to issue visas for Israeli athletes at the ongoing world artistic gymnastics championships.
The Israeli Gymnastics Federation appealed against the Indonesian government’s decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), demanding that it either guaranteed their athletes’ presence or forced a move or cancellation of the event.
But CAS rejected the appeal, meaning that Israeli athletes have not been able to compete in this month’s championships in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.
The executive board of the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday reiterated its position that “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”.
In order to avoid similar situations in the future, the IOC board decided “to end any form of dialogue with the NOC [National Olympic Committee] of Indonesia about hosting future editions of the Olympic Games, Youth Olympic Games, Olympic events or conferences until such time as the Indonesian government provides the IOC with adequate guarantees that it will allow access to the country for all participants, regardless of nationality, to attend”.
The IOC board said it would also “recommend to all international federations not to host any international sports events or meetings in Indonesia until such time as the Indonesian government provides adequate guarantees”.