Paris organisers have been forced to issue another apology after partially ruining South Sudan’s Olympic debut in men’s basketball.
South Sudan began their historic Group C campaign with a victory, beating Puerto Rico 90-79 at the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille.
The victory came after the wrong national anthem was played for the African nation, a mistake that was branded “disrespectful” by one South Sudanese player.
The incorrect anthem was played for about 20 seconds, leaving Sudanese players confused and prompting fans to boo and demand the song be stopped.
According to Fox News, one fan even had to be physically restrained by other fans after the Sudanese national anthem was played incorrectly.
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 following a referendum and has its own anthem. The two neighbouring countries have a long history of conflict.
Fans began to applaud the South Sudanese players, who stood with their hands over their hearts waiting for the problem to be resolved. The Puerto Rican players followed suit in solidarity.
The correct anthem was played about three minutes later and South Sudan star Nuni Omot admitted the team felt “disrespected” by the mistake.
“We added fuel to the fire,” said Omot, who finished with 12 points. “Obviously, we felt disrespected when that happened.”
“We have to continue earning respect. That’s why I think we have to continue showing the world what we’re capable of. That was just a sign that people still don’t respect us.”
South Sudan coach Royal Ivey added: “He is a credit to his country. ‘Sud’ means ‘the land of the blacks’.”
‘These guys wanted to play. They wanted to hear their anthem. They got the anthem wrong, but they sang it correctly.
“We all make mistakes. I’m definitely going to leave it in the comments. But at the end of the day, these guys are brothers.”
The International Olympic Committee has apologised to South Sudan’s Olympic team just 24 hours after being forced to apologise for wrongly portraying the South Korean team as North Korea during the opening ceremony in Paris.
“We sincerely apologize,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said during a news conference on Saturday.
“An operational error was made. On a night when so much was at stake, we can only apologise for that.”
The latest blunders come after fans noticed the Olympic flag was presented upside down during Friday night’s ceremony in the French capital.
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