Jakarta: Misha Zilberman of Israel is set to miss the world championships after he was denied entry into Indonesia by not granting him the visa.
The 26-year-old, who represented Israel at the London 2012 Olympics, spent the past couple of weeks practicing in Singapore while waiting for his visa request to be approved.
It is unknown whether the visa denial had anything to do with the political atmosphere between Indonesia and Israel. Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, and the Jewish state do not have formal diplomatic ties and it is difficult for Israelis to visit the Southeast Asian nation.
“After six months of exchanging letters, and after sending all the documents they requested, and after we arrived in Singapore, they are saying no. The World Badminton Federation knew about this and didn’t help. They preferred to ignore it and just waited for it to pass. After two weeks in Singapore waiting for a visa they are probably sending me home instead of to the World Championships,” said Zilberman.
Yuni Kartika, a spokeswoman for the Indonesian Badminton Association, confirmed Zilberman was yet to be granted a visa but insisted the organisation was pushing authorities to grant him one.
The immigration department had informed the association his visa application was still being processed but refused to explain the delay, she said.
“There is still a possibility, as soon as his visa issued, we will send it to Singapore immediately,” the spokeswoman added.
