“Be a good sport!”

When someone says that to you, it usually means: Don’t be a sore loser. But it actually means a lot more. According to a website for teens on sportsmanship, it is about having a positive attitude, giving your best effort, encouraging your teammates, accepting calls, not arguing with officials and following the rules of the game.

If you were to make the website for adults, you might feel tempted to add: Don’t mix sports with politics. After all, the fundamental ethos of sports is to be enjoyed for its own sake, with consideration for fairness, ethics and mutual respect.

But the truth of the matter is, as far back as ancient Greece, sports have always been political, “… intricately enmeshed within the larger socio-political context in which it operates” (“Why Sport is always Political”, sportanddevelopment.org, May 12, 2021).

“Sports generate tremendous passion, among millions of people and strong links to identity”, both personal as well as national identity. Hence the intense nationalistic fervor associated with sports, not to mention hooliganism and terrorism.

Who can forget the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, when Black September, the Palestinian militant group, took hostage the Israeli national team? Eventually, 17 were killed: 11 Israeli athletes and coaches, one German police officer and five Black September members.  Terrorism is, after all, political violence.

Was politics the reason for ditching the amazing and rare opportunity for Indonesia to host the FIFA U-20 World Cup between May 20^th and June 11^th? With the 2024 presidential elections looming large, it is hardly surprising political parties and their politicians would try to get as much support, and eventually votes, as they can.

The party, in this case, is the Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), led by Megawati Soekarnoputri, who, for ideological purposes, rejected the Israeli team. They said it was against the 1945 Constitution, which is anticolonial, not because they are anti-Israel, which has occupied Palestine since 1967. In fact, some politicians claim the Indonesian public rejects Israel for that reason. Really?

All PDI-P governors of provinces where the U-20 soccer matches were to be held had rejected the Israeli team, but the politicians under the spotlight are Ganjar Pranowo, governor of Central Java, and I Wayan Koster, governor of Bali. Ganjar is a presidential candidate for 2024. Their hope was, of course, to get public support.

Oops! Did they ever get it wrong! Rather than getting an electoral boost, Ganjar got a bashing and an electoral dip from his actions to ban Israel from the games. The pollster INDIKATOR conducted a phone survey on March 22-27 that discovered almost 60 percent would have wanted the games to continue, even with Israel participating.

There are other issues.

The first is timing. It had been known from the start Israel would be participating. Why was the rejection at the 11^th hour, so close to the event, which is to be held between May 20 and June 11? Why didn’t they either say no from the start and not even dream of hosting a world event, as for sure the Israelis would be participating, or say yes, and damn the consequences? In fact, public opinion was expressed as dissatisfaction at losing the chance to host a once-in-a-generation world-class sporting event. 

The second is inconsistency. There have been other events, including sporting events, in which Israel participated. Three Israeli athletes have participated in sporting events in Indonesia in the past 10 years: Mischa Zilberman (badminton), Yuval Shemla (wall climbing) and Mikhail Yakolev (cyclist). Zilberman came to Indonesia in 2015, Shemla in 2022 and Yakolev in February 2023!

Then there was the Inter-Parliamentary Union event in Bali in March last year where an Israeli delegation participated, and no one objected, not even the PDI-P.

Hello?

The third issue could perhaps be called “throwing out the baby with the bathwater”, the bathwater being Israel, the baby being economic gains. The short-term ones are an increase in construction activities and tourism. Sure, tough conditions are imposed by FIFA to qualify as a host, but there are long-term impacts on infrastructure and the economy. And of course, after gaining visibility in the eyes of the world by being the host of the Group of 20 Summit in Bali on Nov. 15-16, 2022, it is a shame to then attract negative attention just by being flaky.

The fourth thing is perhaps what you could call a character flaw of Indonesians: having an unthinking, knee-jerk reaction to certain things: communism/communists; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and queer (LGBTQ); and Israel.

The recent raid of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the holy site for Muslims in Jerusalem, in the month of Ramadan no less, triggered the fury of Muslims and worldwide condemnation. So, I am not saying it is easy for Muslims to keep a cool head when things like this happen.

Indonesia’s fourth president, Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid (1940-2009), whose presidency only lasted for less than two years (Oct. 20, 1999-July 23, 2001) was known for his idiosyncrasies, as well as his tolerance and pluralism. He had a special and long relationship with Israel, which helped him understand that many Israelis want peace.

He wanted to open diplomatic relations with Israel so that Indonesia, as the largest Muslim-majority country, could act as a mediator between the two nations that have been embroiled in conflict since 1948, one of the world’s most-enduring conflicts.

After all, Indonesia does see itself in the role of mediator and engaging in peace-building activities in hotspots around the world: Myanmar and Rohingya, the Philippines with their Moro conflict, the border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, Syria – very complex! – and even the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war. You cannot exactly play that role if you have a knee-jerk reaction, can you?

There are no easy solutions, but the FIFA U-20 World Cup was actually a test case – a small one, I would say – to showcase Indonesia’s diplomatic clout, especially as the giant of Southeast Asia. Sorry to say, it failed in a silly and pathetic way. Oh, dear!

Sport is a way to understand ourselves as individual and team players, but also to understand the world of nations, as it is a reflection of our collective mentality; our character; our politics; our ability to manage dilemmatic and complex situations; our integrity; and not least, our compassion.

So, be a good sport!

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The writer is the author of Julia’s Jihad.