National anthem blunder: Anger after Hong Kong protest song played at ice hockey competition

Hong Kong authorities have slammed another blunder where a song linked to the 2019 protests was used instead of the Chinese national anthem at a sporting event, saying they “strongly deplored” the incident which forced players to intervene at an ice hockey tournament in Europe.

The latest mistake took place on Tuesday at the 2023 Ice Hockey Championship in Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, adding to a string of similar events that had caused diplomatic problems.

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“The [Hong Kong] government strongly deplores the mistake made when incorrect music was played as the national anthem after the Hong Kong versus Iran match in the Ice Hockey World Championship held in Bosnia,” a spokesman said on Wednesday.

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“The government attaches great importance to the incident and has requested the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China to conduct an in-depth investigation.”

The government said it noted the Hong Kong athletes’ efforts on the spot in safeguarding the dignity of the country.

A video of the incident shows the organiser playing Glory to Hong Kong – a song linked to the 2019 social unrest – rather than Chinese national anthem March of the Volunteers after the city’s team beat Iran 11-1.

The tune – used by protesters to boost their morale during the anti-government protests but viewed by the authorities as problematic – was played for 10 seconds, before players from the Hong Kong team made a “T” shape with their hands to point out the blunder.

The sign was among guidelines previously drawn up by the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China for athletes to intervene following a string of sports events where the wrong anthem was played.

The federation on Wednesday said it had been “in close touch” with the Hong Kong Ice Hockey Association to find out the situation, while acknowledging the body’s effort to comply with the guidelines.

“The athletes and team manager involved responded immediately in an appropriate manner during the incident, and notified the organiser to stop and make corrections swiftly. This proves that the relevant guidelines have all along been effective,” its spokesman said.

The spokesman added that it had asked the association to carry out an investigation and submit a report.

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Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, who representing the sports, performing arts, culture and publication sector in the legislature, described the incident as “extremely shocking”.

But he said the outcome showed the new guideline worked as it managed to “assist staff on the ground to deal with the matters in an efficient manner”.

Similar blunders had marred rugby and baseball games featuring the Hong Kong team in recent months, with national security police looking into whether any foul play was involved.

Tech giant Google was previously under fire for refusing to tweak its search results that showed Glory to Hong Kong as the top result for keywords such as “Hong Kong anthem”, with the government and lawmakers lodging complaints.

Hong Kong’s ice hockey team will play Singapore on Thursday and Malaysia the following day.

More from South China Morning Post:

• Rugby anthem blunders: Hong Kong authorities in talks with Google on how to prevent misleading search results
• Why national anthem blunders have left Hong Kong rugby reeling and what is being done to stop same mistakes from occurring again

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