VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesia has withdrawn its commitment to host the ANOC World Beach Games and the ANOC General Assembly in Bali in August 2023.

On Tuesday, the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) sent a letter to the international federations participating in the ANOC World Beach Games.

The letter stated that ANOC and Bali's Local Organizing Committee (LOC) had been holding weekly coordination meetings until last week, and at no point did the LOC indicate any major issues that would lead to such an outcome.

According to the letter seen by ANTARA, the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI) said that the decision was taken because "the government has delayed its financial commitment, and there is no time to deliver the Games."

With the Games scheduled to take place in four weeks, the decision not to host them at such late notice would prevent ANOC from finding an alternative host. Therefore, there would be no option but to cancel this year's edition in Bali, as stated in the letter.

"ANOC is very disappointed by the KOI’s actions, which will deny athletes from 100 qualified NOCs the opportunity to fulfill their ambitions of competing at the Games," according to a statement released on its website.

The ANOC General Assembly in October 2021 approved Indonesia as the host of the 2023 ANOC World Beach Games, the second edition of the Games after Doha, Qatar, in 2019.

The 2023 ANOC World Beach Games were scheduled to be held from August 5 to 12, and the ANOC General Assembly from August 13 to 15. The tournament was expected to be attended by around 1,600 athletes from 130 countries. (Antaranews)