Indonesia was removed by FIFA as the host of the U20 World Cup due to the rejection of several government figures who did not want Israel to come to Indonesia to participate in the U20 World Cup event and had become quite a heated debate because this issue, in terms of the U20 World Cup, was football sports event and it should not be associated with the political problems that are currently happening between Indonesia, Palestine and Israel.
I actually have an opinion that with this mistake that was made by Indonesia until FIFA decided to revoke Indonesia's name it would have a big loss impact on Indonesia.
It's funny to see a government that prioritizes politics but forgets the achievements of their own nation's sons.
A few months back, more than a hundred people died during a stampede in Kanjuruhan Stadium in East Java (during a match between Arema Football Club and Persatuan Sepakbola Surabaya). An enquiry by FIFA found that Football Association of Indonesia was partly to be blamed, as they failed in crowd control measures. Indonesia was removed as the hosts for U-20 world cup a few months later. But there is no doubt that government intervention in sports bodies is a big issue all over Asia. Even here in India, there have been several controversies as a result of this.
The tragedy at Kanjuruhan occurred because the fans or supporters of the two teams had disputes from a long time ago and the Indonesian government could not resolve them.
Indeed, FIFA highlighted that the Indonesian Football Association could not handle the problems that occurred to every fan on the competing team and this was a fatal mistake because it claimed more than 100 lives.
But Indonesia's problem was crossed out by FIFA not because of the fault of the Indonesian Football Association, which was negligent in the case of recommendation, but because of the rejection by government officials and some Indonesian citizens regarding the Israeli national football team.
FIFA does not want an incident like Kanjuruhan to happen in a prestigious event like the U20 World Cup in Indonesia because it is clear that some resistance to Israel has been made.
I wonder why there are unscrupulous individuals who make such objections, which in fact hinder the performance of Indonesian football itself.