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Clash over Israel costs RI U-20
Party warns against compromising state ideology over short-term interests.
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Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali (right), accompanied by Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) chairman Erick Thohir (left) and Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka (center), inspects the progress of the construction activities of Manahan Stadium in Surakarta, Central Java, on March 12,2023. Manahan Stadium is being prepared as one of the venues for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup's soccer matches in Indonesia. (Antara/Maulana Surya)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) were at loggerheads on Wednesday over whether the country should allow the Israeli national team to take part in the 2023 U-20 World Cup, a debate rendered null by FIFA’s subsequent decision to revoke Indonesia’s right to host the tournament but which points to deeper divisions within the party ahead of next year’s elections.
The PDI-P insisted that the Israeli team be barred from taking part in the soccer tournament if it was held in Indonesia, arguing that the country did not recognize Israel because of its illegal occupation of Palestine and that this was a cornerstone of Indonesian foreign policy established by the country’s first president, Sukarno.
It then doubled down on its opposition to Israel’s participation after President Jokowi publicly expressed his disagreement with his fellow PDI-P politicians by asserting his government’s intention to host the global soccer event notwithstanding the objections.
“Strengthening our ideology is very important. Don’t, for example, compromise our ideology for the sake of the market. This will not last long,” PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto said in a statement on Wednesday “Precisely with [Pancasila] ideology, we are leading the movement of the people of Indonesia and the world.”
Read also: FIFA removes Indonesia as host of U-20
Breaking ranks
Hasto’s statement was released the day after the President said Israeli participation in the U-20 tournament would not affect Indonesia’s longstanding support for Palestine, stressing that politics should be separate from soccer.
