Indonesia will still host the U-20 World Cup in 2023. In the aftermath of the Kanjuruhan Stadium tragedy, Indonesia’s right to conduct the U-20 World Cup was questioned due to the possible sanctions from FIFA – the world's highest governing body of football. However, the sanctions were not discussed in the meeting between President Joko Widodo and the President of FIFA last month. Contrarily, FIFA’s President, Gianni Infantino, announced the FIFA team’s plan to visit Indonesia as a way to enhance cooperation and collaboration in preparing the tournament.
The U-20 World Cup is expected to bring plenty of advantages for Indonesia on its first hosting experience. These are the U-20 World Cup’s economic benefits for Indonesia.
What is the U-20 World Cup?
The World Cup is an international football competition organised by FIFA every four years. Each country gets a chance to become the host of the World Cup, which has been held regularly since 1930. FIFA also organises other international football tournaments for youth players (U-20 World Cup and U-17 World Cup), for women (U-20 Women's World Cup and U-17 Women's World Cup), for football clubs (Club World Cup), and for other types of football such as Futsal World Cup and Beach Soccer World Cup.
As one of the most popular youth tournaments, the U-20 World Cup is held biannually for national team players who are under 20 years old. So far, there have been 24 teams from 24 countries that will compete for the prestigious trophy. The 24 countries that qualify for the final stage will be drawn into six groups of four teams. Currently, Indonesia has joined five teams from Europe, four teams from North America, and two teams from Oceania.
Although the locations of city and stadium for next year's U-20 World Cup has not been determined, Indonesia has been preparing six stadiums, namely the Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Si Jalak Harupat Stadium in Bandung, Manahan Stadium in Solo, Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium in Surabaya, I Wayan Dipta Gianyar Stadium in Bali, and Gelora Sriwijaya Stadium in Palembang. To support the preparations, the Indonesian government is currently renovating the stadiums’ infrastructure, especially upon the stadium grass.
The Economic Benefits of Hosting the World Cup
In general, the World Cup provides an opportunity for the host country to increase international perception. Broadcasted both by national and international media, the U-20 World Cup provides an opportunity for Indonesia to exhibit not only the grandeur and success of the tournament, but also the potential of tourism in various regions in Indonesia.
The advancement of Indonesia’s tourism sector through the U-20 World Cup is expected to bring several multiplier effects, wherein the presence of foreign tourists as the spectator of this competition will boost the sector. This projection is based on Poland's economic growth after hosting the U-20 World Cup in May and June 2019. According to the Polish Statistics Agency, there was an increase in the number of domestic and foreign tourists as seen from the occupancy rate of hotels and similar inns. In May 2019, the number of residents was recorded at 3,280,645. This result increased by 8.9% compared to the previous year.
Besides tourism, Indonesia can take advantage from the entry of investment. The need to increase the accommodation, transportation, and infrastructure facilities for the competition can be utilised to attract and establish partnerships between domestic and foreign investors. Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno plans to massively promote Indonesian tourism through digital marketing. Apart from investing in the tourism sector, domestic and foreign investors can actively participate in various infrastructure renovation projects for the U-20 World Cup.
The infrastructure renovations and the increasing accommodation facilities will create more jobs that will subsequently contribute to the GDP of the host country. Various international events require international infrastructure and facilities standard, with no exception the U-20 World Cup. Therefore, the tournament requires a large number of workers to achieve the standard. Lee and Taylor (2004) reported more than 31,000 jobs created in Japan and South Korea during their collaboration in hosting the 2002 World Cup. This job creation helped create an economic impact of approximately $1.35 billion in output, with an additional $1 billion directed toward collective income and value.
Looking from the previous hosts’ pattern of experiences, Indonesia will likely receive similar economic benefits from hosting the U-20 World Cup in 2023. The national and local government are required to not only prepare the tournament, but also utilise the economic potential of the international competition for national economic development.
