The Indonesian province withdrew from staging the ANOC World Beach Games and General Assembly on July 4 just over one month before the multi-sport event was due to begin, claiming the national Government failed to release the required budget.

It had been hoped the General Assembly, a gathering of the world's National Olympic Committees (NOCs), could be held elsewhere later this year.

However, no plans for its rearrangement had been communicated by ANOC, and its secretary general Gunilla Lindberg today told the European Olympic Committees (EOC) General Assembly it was not possible because of a congested calendar.

"The same day we had six NOCs contacting us wanting to host the next General Assembly, but the calendar was too full this year so we had to say thank you, but no thank you," the Swedish official revealed.

ANOC moved from a biennial to an annual General Assembly in 2014, but was forced to cancel the 2020 edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was staged on the Greek island of Crete in 2021 and South Korea's capital Seoul last year.

A presentation in Istanbul was made by Olympic Committee of Portugal secretary general José Manuel Araújo on the 2024 ANOC General Assembly, due to be held in Cascais near Lisbon.

Lindberg, an ex-officio member of the EOC Executive Committee and International Olympic Committee member, outlined the timeline of the cancellation to European NOCs.

Lindberg said a preparation meeting with the Bali 2023 Organising Committee had taken place as normally on June 29, before notification of cancellation was received on July 4.

"Of course, it was a shock to us, it was a shock to everybody, but I think you and the athletes suffered the most," she said.

"They had been training, they had been preparing, and with only four weeks to go I think it should not be possible to cancel an event like this."

Lindberg claimed ANOC could take legal action against Indonesia if a solution is not found to help reimburse NOCs.

"On August 23, we had a meeting in Jakarta with the Sports Minister and other representatives from the Government saying that they have to help us or pay the money that we have already spent.

"They promised to put together a Commission, and we have eight big files with claims from the International Federations and the NOCs, and we are still pushing.

"We have lawyers ready to go to court if we cannot find a friendly solution, which they want to have, so we will keep you informed but so far we have no positive answer to give you other than we have started to reimburse your claims for the tickets."

EOC President Spyros Capralos, who is also head of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, had asked if ANOC could reimburse NOCs if a solution is not found by the end of the year while continuing discussions with the Indonesian Government.

Lindberg replied "we are really pushing, and hopefully [we will have] a solution as soon as possible", and ANOC is "the most eager to get the money as soon as possible".

The ANOC secretary general said there had been interest from International Federations to stage a World Beach Games in the future, and some wanted to stage it later this year as individual competitions, but this was "almost impossible in the calendar that we have".

There had been uncertainty in the build-up to Bali 2023 over the participation of Israeli athletes at the World Beach Games, but officials had insisted there were no concerns of a threat to the event.