Israeli gymnasts denounce Indonesia’s ban on World Championships

EXCLUSIVE: Israeli national team gymnasts Lihie Raz and Eyal Indig found out all their training for the world championships would be in vain just days after their country’s historic peace deal to end the war in Gaza.

They had just experienced the joy of seeing the last living hostages return home.

“We started the week with one of the happiest moments in the last two years, seeing the hostages return home alive and finally being able to half breathe knowing they were back in our home,” Indig told PK Press Club Digital.

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Then came shocking news.

“It seemed to come out of nowhere,” said Raz, an Olympic athlete from Paris for Israel.

They first learned through a news report that the Indonesian government was blocking their visas from entering the country for the 2025 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Jakarta.

Raz and Indig say they were told their visas had been denied by the Indonesian government for security reasons.

“The official reason given by the Indonesian government was that our participation would put us and other national delegations at risk,” Indig said.

But Indig says the team’s own security team had given them permission to enter the city, after a prior inspection.

Indig cited decades of security measures the country’s sports teams have used since the 1972 Munich Olympics, when eight terrorists associated with the Black September group — an affiliate of the Palestine Liberation Organization — sneaked into the Olympic village in a failed mission to take athletes hostage. The mission resulted in the deaths of six Israeli coaches, five athletes, a West German police officer and five terrorists.

“For us it was very strange,” Indig said. “This same security did a scan a week before our flight, in Indonesia, they were in Indonesia, and they cleared everything in terms of security. So we had full clearance from the Israeli security team, and you can believe me they wouldn’t allow anything that wasn’t safe. And our federation kept telling us it was safe.”

Indig later called the Indonesian decision “a blatant incident of discrimination based on nationality.”

Asked if he thought the recent ceasefire with Hamas would lead to fewer incidents of exclusion of Israelis in international sports, which is a growing trend, Indig responded. “I certainly hope so. But one thing I can say is that this incident has nothing to do with the ceasefire. This is a blatant incident of discrimination based on nationality.”

Indig, Raz and their teammates have traveled for competitions in other majority-Muslim countries, including Azerbaijan, Egypt, Turkey and Qatar, and encountered no problems.

PK Press Club Digital contacted the Indonesian Embassy in the United States, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the press office of the country’s President Prabowo Subianto for a response.

Indonesian Sports Minister Erick Thohir defended his country’s decision in a statement released in the last week of October.

“We adhere to the principle of maintaining security, public order and public interest by hosting every international event,” he said.

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The Israel Gymnastics Federation has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in an attempt to force the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) to guarantee Israel’s participation, or else cancel or move the event to a new venue.

Indig and Raz say they hoped they and their teammates would simply be allowed into the country for the competition in time.

So they never stopped training.

“It was really hard,” Raz said of his training during those uncertain days.

“You were already told you wouldn’t go, but they said they were still working on it, but the chances are low. But I knew that even if we still had the slightest chance of competing, I wanted to stay in the best shape possible. So, after all these problems, I could still go there and show my best performance.”

They say they initially learned the news on a Friday and that their flight was scheduled to depart the following Monday. Amid the uncertainty, the team pushed back its flight a day, from Monday to Tuesday, while waiting to see if the appeal would be accepted. So they spent that extra Monday training more.

Then Tuesday came, and their flight was delayed again, due to the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, and they continued their training.

But late on the night of Tuesday, October 14, the CAS rejected the country’s appeal. Their world championship hopes were over.

“After the CAS decision, there was nothing left to do, so we finally dropped our gloves,” said Indig.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) quickly issued a statement later in the week condemning Indonesia’s treatment of the team. The IOC later issued a statement advising against scheduling of further major sporting competitions in Indonesia by world governing bodies, and even halted any discussions with the country regarding future Olympics hosting rights.

But gymnastics’ world governing body has been more empathetic towards Indonesia.

FIG President Morinari Watanabe and Secretary General Nicolas Buompane defended the Indonesian government’s reasoning regarding security concerns as global controversy over the situation intensified, during a press conference on October 18.

“We were disappointed and frustrated, because for us, sport is an area free from politics,” Raz said. “We are disappointed that they put us in this situation, they didn’t support us,” she added of the FIG’s response.

Still, Raz and Indig watched the competitions in Indonesia that week, as loyal gymnastics fans would.

Raz said that made the situation even more difficult.

“Seeing the competition was hard, it was hard because we saw the competition because we wanted to be there and compete so bad,” she said.

Indig found solace in supporting Team USA’s Donnell Whittenburg, who became the first American to win gold in men’s rings at the event after suffering an injury last year.

“I broke both elbows in a freak accident a year and a half ago and had two operations to try to get back into gymnastics,” he said. “So for me, watching Donnell Whittenburg who tore his Achilles just a year ago… was incredible to watch.”

Indig also said he received private support from other competitors at the event.

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Still, Raz and Indig wonder if the podium results would have been different if their team had been allowed into the country.

Raz went so far as to say she is “sure” the results would have been different if Israeli star and Olympic men’s floor exercise gold medalist Artem Dolgopyat had been there.

“The podium picture, we’re sure, would have looked different if he had competed on floor,” Raz said.

Both gymnasts had planned a vacation after the championships, to rest from the intensity of the competition. They decided to take their vacation anyway, despite the incident. They traveled across Africa, stopping in Zanzibar before going on safari in Kenya.

“Emotionally, we were so exhausted,” Raz said, while both gymnasts said the trip was much needed after the stress of the situation.

And now they have returned to training, now more motivated for their next competitions, leading to the World Championships in 2026, 27 and potentially the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

They do not expect problems similar to those that occurred in Indonesia to occur in other competitions, as they say they have been reassured by their federation and the Israeli Olympic Committee that steps are being taken to prevent this.

“Our federation has done and continues to do everything to prevent this from happening, as well as the Israeli Olympic Committee,” Raz said. “Everyone is OK with this situation and trying to prevent another one.”

Indig added: “We are on high alert, everyone is on high alert and are doing everything we can to make sure this doesn’t happen.”

The Indonesian sanctions are just the latest example of restrictions imposed on Israeli sports teams and fans in recent months.

THE Israeli Prime Minister The Tech cycling team has been excluded from an upcoming race in Italy, the Giro dell’Emilia, scheduled for October 4, due to potentially disruptive pro-Palestinian protests.

The UEFA Europa League, Europe’s biggest soccer body, was reportedly preparing to vote in September on whether to suspend Israel over the war in Gaza. FIFA President Gianni Infantino later announced that no action would be taken against the team on October 3.

Lovers of the Israeli The Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team is barred from attending a Europa League match in Birmingham, England, on November 6 for security reasons, after its fans were attacked in Amsterdam during a match against Ajax last fall.