Nigeria’s U20 World Cup campaign in jeopardy as Indonesia set for late pull out

Nigeria will be one of the 24 teams from six confederations to participate in the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup slated for Indonesia between May 20 to June 11.

With all the participants now known, the draws for the tournament’s grouping would hold on Friday, March 31, at the Taman Werdhi Budaya Art Centre in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia.

However, the teams might not even get the chance to compete as the competition has been thrown into jeopardy and set to be gain a new host after the governor of Bali refuses the participation of Israel.

Bali is a prominent province in Indonesia, and its governor, Wayne Koster, has refused to host the Israeli U20 team, according to Zach Lowy.

Following this development, the draw has reportedly been canceled and the competition in its entirety could follow suit, with the date for kick-off so close.

Wayne Koster said: “We, the provincial government of Bali, declare that we reject the participation of the Israeli team to compete in Bali.”

However, there are also reports claiming Qatar, who hosted the 2022 World Cup in November-December last year, could step in to host the competition.