No let up in Hong Kong soccer fans booing Chinese national anthem
Fans continue to jeer March of the Volunteers despite warnings that the new anthem law for the city could be retroactively applied
Hong Kong soccer fans remained defiant on Tuesday as they jeered the national anthem during team’s match against Lebanon despite a warning that a new anthem law for the city could be applied retroactively.
Hundreds of Hong Kong fans booed and swore during the familiar strains of March of the Volunteers rang out across Hong Kong Stadium in So Kon Po.
Dozens of security guards patrolled the stadium imploring people not to boo during the anthem.
But their pleas fell on deaf ears as the jeering continued for the second straight home match since the anthem law was passed on the mainland. Some fans turned their backs to the pitch and made obscene gestures.
One fan, who turned his back to the pitch when the national anthem rang, said he was not afraid of the new law be cause he thought it was impossible to enforce.
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“I turned my back the last two games. How can the law enforcement catch me?” he said, as the person next to him told him not to talk to the press.