Hong Kong Anthem Gaffe Strikes Again

The moment the wrong anthem was played in Bosnia

After the 2019 protest song instead of the Chinese national anthem was played twice late last year in a rugby tournament in South Korea raised hackles with the Hong Kong government, it is quite unbelievable that the gaffe has happened again, this time Bosnia, after a hockey match between the city and Iran.

On Tuesday "Glory to Hong Kong" was played as Hong Kong's national anthem instead of "March of the Volunteers" when the team beat Iran in the 2023 Ice Hockey World Championship Division III.

Pui says teams can't check right song is played

Pui Kwan-kay, honorary vice-president of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, said he didn't have all the details of the incident, but believed the latest blunder was caused by "careless" staff who downloaded the wrong song from the internet.

"The government has a responsibility to continue to liaising with the service provider to ensure the correct national anthem of Hong Kong, China should be placed at the top," he said, referring to Google.

And yes, if you do Google "Hong Kong national anthem", "Glory to Hong Kong" is the top result.

Google has said before it will not change the rankings of specific pages.

But no one outside of the city knows it is the wrong anthem and the politically charged meaning behind it. How is it their fault?

Why not make it the responsibility of the Hong Kong teams to tell organisers to use "March of the Volunteers" instead? 

At a rugby tournament "Glory to HK" was played

Surely the team's coach or general manager traveling with the team could liaise with tournament organisers? 

However, Pui claims that while guidelines and tool kits have been provided to sports teams to ensure event organisers have a copy of the correct anthem, the teams cannot constantly check to make sure the right song is played.

"Team leaders can't always stay in the media room to supervise, and the counterparty may feel annoyed that they are being watched while working," Pui said.

Well, yes if the Hong Kong government keeps getting annoyed then someone's going to have to make sure the right anthem is played, right?

In this latest gaffe, the government "strongly deplored" the national anthem mix-up and requested the local Olympic committee to conduct an in-depth investigation.

The International Ice Hockey Federation reportedly apologised for the error, saying it was an unintended mistake.

At least Hong Kong sports teams are playing well overseas!