Wed, October 15, 2025
Israel Gymnastics Federation’s appeals to allow its gymnasts to participate in the Gymnastics World Championships rejected
Israel Gymnastics Federation’s (IGF) appeals against the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) for refusing to revoke Indonesia’s decision to disallow visas to Israeli athletes, meaning they cannot compete in the Gymnastics World Championships, have been rejected in court.
On October 10, 2025, the Indonesian government announced that Israeli gymnasts who qualified for the 53rd Artistic Gymnastics World Championships due to take place in Jakarta, Indonesia from 19-25 October 2025 will not be granted visas due to the war in Gaza. Indonesia has been a consistent supporter of Palestine. The first phase of a Gaza ceasefire was announced on 8 October 2025.
In response, the IGF filed an appeal on 10 October 2025 against the FIG, stating that the FIG’s statement that it was “taking note” of Indonesia’s decision should be removed.
The IGF also filed an appeal on 13 October 2025, also against the FIG, which was made jointly with the six Israeli athletes who qualified for the championships: Artem Dolgophyat – Paris 2024 Games silver medallist – Eyal Indig, Ron Payatov, Lihie Raz, Yali Shoshani and Roni Shamay. This appeal stated that the FIG should ensure the participation of the six athletes, and if not, move or cancel the championships altogether.
The IGF stated that FIG Statutes give it the authority to cancel or relocate an event if a host country denies visas to any member federation and stated that its lack of commitment to do so showed that the FIG Executive Committee acted discriminately against the IGF.
Conversely, the FIG argued that it does not have a say regarding the issuance of visas from the Indonesian government, and that this “falls entirely outside the competence of the FIG.”
The first IGF appeal was dismissed due to a lack of jurisdiction, the second is ongoing, but it was confirmed to The Athletic that it will not be heard before the World Championships.
