Israeli gymnasts speak out on ban from World Championships by Indonesia

SPECIAL: Israeli national team gymnasts Lihie Raz and Eyal Indig learned that all their work for the world championships would be in vain, just days after their country signed a historic peace deal aimed at ending the war in Gaza.

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

“We started the week with one of the happiest moments of the last two years; we saw live hostages return to their homes and could finally half breathe knowing they were home with us,” Indig told Fox News Digital.

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Then came shocking news.

“It came out of nowhere,” said Raz, who competed in the Paris Olympics for Israel.

They first learned from a news report that the Indonesian government had blocked entry visas to the country for the 2025 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships to be held in Jakarta.

Raz and Indig claim they were told their visas were denied due to security concerns from the Indonesian government.

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

However, Indig claims that the team’s own security team gave them permission to enter the city after a prior inspection.

Indig cited the security measures the country’s sports teams have used for decades since the 1972 Munich Olympics, when eight terrorists associated with the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Black September group 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.

“It was very strange for us,” Indig said. “The same security did a sweep in Indonesia a week before our flight, they were in Indonesia and they allowed everything from a security standpoint. So we had full authority 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 Indonesia’s decision “a blatant case of discrimination on the basis of nationality”.

“It’s a growing trend,” Indig said when asked if he believed the recent ceasefire with Hamas would result in fewer cases of Israelis being excluded from international sports. “I certainly hope so. However, I can say that this incident has nothing to do with the ceasefire. This is a clear case of discrimination on the basis of nationality.”

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

Fox News Digital reached out to 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 in the last week of October.

“We are committed to protecting security, public order and the public interest when hosting every international event,” he said.

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The Israeli Gymnastics Federation filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), seeking to force the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) to guarantee Israel’s participation or, alternatively, cancel the event or move it to a new location.

Indig and Raz claim they are holding out hope that they and their teammates will be allowed into the country in time for the competition.

That’s why they never stopped training.

“It was really tough,” Raz said of his training over an uncertain few days.

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

They claim they first learned of the news on Friday and that their flight was scheduled to depart the following Monday. Amid the uncertainty, the team postponed its flight by one day, from Monday to Tuesday, to see if the appeal would be accepted. So they spent the extra Monday doing more training.

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

However, late on Tuesday night (October 14), CAS rejected the country’s appeal. World championship hopes are over.

“There was nothing left to do after the CAS decision, so we finally hung up the gloves,” Indig said.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) released a statement later that week condemning Indonesia’s treatment of the team. The IOC later issued a statement recommending that no further major sporting events be planned in Indonesia by world governing bodies, and even broke off all talks with the country for rights to host future Olympics.

But the world governing body that oversees gymnastics has been more understanding towards Indonesia.

FIG President Morinari Watanabe and Secretary-General Nicolas Buompane defended the Indonesian government’s reasons for security concerns at a press conference on October 18, as global debate about the situation grows.

“We are disappointed and disappointed because for us sports is a place free of politics,” Raz said. he said. “We’re disappointed they put us in this situation, they didn’t have our back,” he added of FIG’s response.

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

Raz said this makes the situation even more difficult.

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

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

“I broke both my elbows in a terrible accident a year and a half ago and had to undergo two surgeries to return to gymnastics,” she said. “So for me, watching Donnell Whittenburg, who tore his Achilles just a year ago, was amazing.”

Indig also said he received special support from other contestants who attended the event.

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Still, both Raz and Indig wonder whether their podium results would have turned out differently if their teams had been allowed into the country.

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

“We are confident that the podium picture would have looked different if he had raced on the field,” Raz said.

Artem Dolgopyat of Team Israel competes in the Artistic Gymnastics Men’s Floor Exercise Final on day eight of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Bercy Arena on August 3, 2024 in Paris, France. (Tom Weller/VOIGT/GettyImages)

The two gymnasts had a holiday planned after the championships in order to get away from the intensity of the competition. Despite the incident, they still decided to go on vacation. They traveled around Africa, stopping in Zanzibar before going on safari in Kenya.

While both gymnasts said the trip was much needed after the stress of the situation, Raz said, “We were so emotionally exhausted.”

And now they’re back to training, more motivated for the next competitions leading up to the World Championships in 2026 and 27 and potentially the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

They do not expect problems similar to those experienced in Indonesia to occur in other competitions, as they claim they have been given some assurance by their federation and the Israeli Olympic Committee that steps will be taken to prevent this.

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

Indig added, “We’re on high alert, everyone’s on high alert, and we’re doing everything possible to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

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Indonesia’s sanction is just the latest example of restrictions imposed on Israel’s sports teams and fans in recent months.

Prime Minister of Israel The technical cycling team has been removed from the Giro dell’Emilia race in Italy, scheduled for October 4, due to disruptive pro-Palestinian protests.

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

fans Israeli Football team Maccabi Tel Aviv was banned from attending its Europa League match in Birmingham, England, on November 6 due to security concerns after the team’s fans were attacked during a match against Ajax in Amsterdam last fall.

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