By : Anindira Putri Maheswani )*
All elements of society must unite again and do not give room or opportunity for division. Stop blaming each other for the cancellation of Indonesia’s hosting of the U-20 World Cup.
The International Football Federation (FIFA) has officially decided to cancel the 2023 U-20 Football World Cup in Indonesia.
Regarding FIFA’s decision, then the President of the Republic of Indonesia (RI), Joko Widodo (Jokowi) asked all parties to be able to respect what had been a decision from FIFA.
Furthermore, the Head of State of the Republic of Indonesia also admitted that he really understood how the decisions given by FIFA could not be denied giving a sense of disappointment to the people in the country, even including himself personally.
Nevertheless, President Jokowi still asked the whole community not to waste their energy on doing things that were completely useless and resulted in divisions and pitting one against the other, such as blaming one another.
According to him, as a great nation, Indonesia must continue to be able to see all events going forward and in fact not only look backwards, because that will hinder any progress to be able to move forward.
The former Governor of DKI Jakarta also appealed to all elements of society to make this event possible, namely FIFA’s decision stating that Indonesia could not host the U-20 Football World Cup so that it can be understood as a valuable lesson for all parties, including also for national football.
Not only that, but President Jokowi also immediately asked the General Chairperson of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), Erick Thohir, to make far more optimal efforts so that the country would not receive sanctions, including so that it could still be given another opportunity to host when there are other international events.
Precisely for now and in the future, it is very important to be able to keep looking at the future and not just cling to the past. In fact, it is very important for all elements of society at a time like this to be able to continue to strengthen the bonds of unity and brotherhood.
Don’t even make efforts to blame each other by accusing your compatriots and other compatriots, in which they reject the existence of a national team from a colonial country. Also, don’t be hostile to each other when there are other opinions that support the existence of the National Team from an colonial country.
In fact, the two of them are brothers, that is, they are still Indonesian citizens. Both of these thoughts also have reasons that are equally basic and strong.
Then there is another very important point, namely that both parties really want Indonesia to be the host of the U-20 Football World Cup and both really want Indonesia to be respected in the eyes of the world and also respected by FIFA. .
Meanwhile, there is also a review from Najwa Shihab which firmly states that FIFA itself uses double standards. How could it not be, because they seem to be desperately defending the Israel National Team even though they were also easily able to ban or ban the Russian National Team during the World Cup in 2022.
Meanwhile, it is also undeniable that Indonesia itself as a great nation has strong principles, that is, the founding fathers of this nation have always strongly rejected colonialism by anyone, including Israel.
This rejection can also be seen by how until now, Indonesia has still closed official diplomatic channels with Israel as a result of their treatment of Palestine.
With FIFA’s decision that made Indonesia fail to host the U-20 World Cup, it could be considered a blessing. Because this actually really shows to the eyes of the international community that in fact the Motherland is a country that has very strong principles. The cancellation should also not cause people in Indonesia to become divided and then blame each other because there are differences of opinion regarding those who support or those who reject Israel’s existence.
)* The author is a contributor to Persada Institute