Why is Indonesia not playing in FIBA World Cup 2023? Qualifications result explored

As the FIBA World Cup 2023 is set to begin in a few days, Indonesia will not be participating in the international tournament.

According to a Philippine Inquirer article written by Mark Giongco, Indonesia failed to secure a spot after suffering a 108-58 loss to China. With only needing one win to qualify for the FIBA World Cup 2023, the disappointing loss was a major setback for the country.

For the upcoming FIBA World Cup 2023, Indonesia will be joining the Philippines and Japan as the three countries to host the World Cup. Meanwhile, both Philippines and Japan have been assured spots for the international event.

The Group Phase of the competition will be held in the three countries mentioned. The Final Phase, however, will be held in Manila, Philippines.

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Indonesian Head Coach on missing out on the FIBA World Cup 2023

The Indonesian coach Milos Pejic kept his head high and remained unfazed despite missing out on the international tournament.

"We don't want to be sad now," Pejic said. "We don't want to be disappointed now. We want to continue our program. We want to continue our hard work. Indonesia basketball is at the beginning of the level where we want to be. We want to be much higher. But that starting position is not bad."

"After a couple of months, maybe one year, of hard work, we can say we did a great job," Pejic added. "We represented Indonesia basketball the right way -- at the SEA Games, now we went to the Second Round of the Asia Cup. We don't want to stop now. We just made one step. Every big goal starts with one small step."

During the qualification phase for the FIBA World Cup, Indonesia experienced disappointing losses despite getting the edge over the Philippines in the 2022 Southeast Asian Games for the gold medal.

With the unique hosting structure of this year's FIBA World Cup, one country was always going to receive the short end of the stick.

In a 2022 Antara article written by Shofi Ayudiana and Uyu Liman, the Secretary General of Perbasi, Nirmala Dewi, proposed the creation of friendly FIBA matches for Indonesia to take part in.

"We already proposed this (the friendly matches to FIBA) when we had a meeting in the Philippines and it was approved," Dewi said. However, (who the opponents will be) will depend on (World Cup group) draw later."

The proposal was done as Indonesia wanted to make the most out of the World Cup hosting experience.