Jakarta, IO – Indonesia is officially appointd as the host of the upcoming U-17 World Cup on 10 November-2 Desember 2023. FIFA made the decision after a Council Meeting held last Friday (23/06/2023).
According to CNNIndonesia, Monday (26/06/2023), Indonesia’s sudden appointment as the hosting country was made to cover the vacuum created after the appointment of the previous host.
Initially, Peru competed against Indonesia to host the 2021 U-20 World Cup. On 24 October 2019, FIFA appointed Peru as the host for the 2021 iteration of the U-17 World Cup, while Indonesia was entrusted with the hosting of the U-20 World Cup for the same year.
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, FIFA cancelled both the U-17 dan U-20 in 2021, reappointing Peru and Indonesia as the hosts for the rescheduled events in 2023.
On 29 March 2023, FIFA revoked its decision to allow Indonesia to host the U-20 World Cup 2023, initially scheduled for 20 May-11 June. The revocation was caused by Indonesia’s rejection to accept the Israeli National Team as one of the participants in the event. FIFA found Indonesia unready to host the Cup at the time.
On 3 April 2023, FIFA also revoked its decision to allow Peru to host the U-17 World Cup 2023, because Peru’s infrasturcture was deemed insufficient to support the needs of the championship.
On 17 April 2023, FIFA appointed Argentina as Indonesia’s replacement to host the U-20 World Cup 2023. However, they have not released an official statement concerning who would host the U-17 World Cup 2023.
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Finally, last weekend, FIFA officially appointed Indonesia the host of the U-17 World Cup 2023. General Chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (“PSSI”) Erick Thohir declared that his Association never submitted themselves as candidate host for the event, merely focusing on keeping Indonesia away from further sanction from FIFA. “We are so relieved. This is proof that the world still trusts Indonesia,” he declared.
Erick went on that PSSI has not received official notice of the appointment from FIFA, as FIFA has only released its annnouncement of the decision made by the FIFA Council last Friday in Zurich. “Be it as it may, the most important thing now is how we prepare ourselves so that we can host the prestigious event properly,” he declared. (un)