“The chief secretary has also expressed our strong opposition during a meeting with the Korean consul general and demanded the country look into it and sort out where the responsibilities lie.”

Lee said “Glory to Hong Kong” had a clear “political aim” and was linked to “black violence” and “pro-independence forces” during the 2019 unrest.

Hong Kong police would investigate whether the incident involved any conspiracy to breach the national anthem law or any other city legislation, he said, adding the Hong Kong Rugby Union had been asked to deal with the matter seriously and submit a report.

In a late statement on Monday, police said their organised crime and triad bureau was handling the case. Apart from the National Anthem Ordinance, the force would also look into possible violation of other local laws, including the national security legislation.

Asia Rugby, the region’s governing body for the sport, earlier offered a “sincere apology” to both Hong Kong and Beijing for the use of the protest song, which was the result of an error by a junior employee.

“Asia Rugby and Korea Rugby Union would like to sincerely apologise to the Hong Kong Rugby Union, the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Government of the People’s Republic of China for this incident,” the organisation said.

“The incident happened due to a simple human error from a junior member of the local organising committee, playing a song downloaded from the internet instead of the correct anthem.”

The line was backed by a Korea Rugby Union source, who said the individual responsible for the playing of national anthems at the tournament “inadvertently” selected the protest song instead of the national anthem.

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“The person thought it was Hong Kong’s national anthem, and saved it in a computer file folder named ‘Hong Kong’,” said the insider, who asked not to be named.

The wrong song was later handed to a colleague working on the public announcement system at the stadium, he added.

“Those involved have absolutely no political motives. They are innocent employees who felt very much embarrassed by the mistakes they committed,” the source insisted.

A Hong Kong government spokesman earlier said Asia Rugby had confirmed the team’s coach had submitted the “correct” recording, but the wrong song was played due to the “human error of a junior staffer of the local organiser”.

The spokesman highlighted that the team had brought the mistake to the attention of the organiser as soon as the wrong song was played and “March of the Volunteers” was used at the prize-giving ceremony after the match, which was won by Hong Kong.

The city side will take part in the third leg of the Asian Rugby Seven Series in Dubai at the end of the month and the government had asked the Hong Kong Rugby Union to make sure a similar incident did not happen again, the spokesman said.

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“March of the Volunteers” has been played at international events involving Hong Kong since the city was returned to Chinese rule by Britain in 1997.

“Glory to Hong Kong” was written during the 2019 anti-government unrest, became an anthem for protesters and was often sung at rallies and also at a football match.

The song mentions “democracy and freedom” and the Cantonese lyrics also contain lines such as “liberate Hong Kong” and “revolution of our times”, a slogan considered by the courts to be problematic under the national security law imposed by Beijing in the wake of the social unrest.

The song was the subject of contention in the first trial under the national security law, which involved a man who rammed a motorcycle carrying a flag bearing the protest slogan into three police officers. The court found the slogan could be interpreted as secessionist.

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The courts are expected to rule on the legality of “Glory to Hong Kong” early next year in the case of a man charged with insulting the national anthem by allegedly uploading a remixed video with the protest song played instead as Tokyo Olympic fencer Edgar Cheung Ka-long won a gold medal last year.

A Facebook clip which went viral showed Hong Kong rugby players and team staff looking confused and awkward as the wrong music was played before Sunday’s kick-off.

Senior Counsel Ronny Tong Ka-wah, a member of Hong Kong’s key decision-making Executive Council, said: “This was surely not a careless mistake. It must be a criminal act with mens rea [criminal intent], and the people involved could have committed sedition under the Crimes Ordinance, as well as secession or collision with foreign forces under the national security law.”

Lawmaker Junius Ho Kwan-yiu, an establishment hardliner, suggested disbanding the Hong Kong rugby team and accused the players of “not responding at all” when the song was played.

“They let the country face humiliation. They have completely failed and lost our confidence and the only solution to this is to disband the team,” he said.

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The Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China said it was “surprised by the mistake” and that the organiser’s initial explanation was “unacceptable”.

The Hong Kong Rugby Union expressed its “extreme dissatisfaction” over the incident after the Asia Rugby apology.

“Whilst we accept this was a case of human error, it was nevertheless not acceptable,” the union said.

The social unrest in 2019 was triggered by an extradition bill that was eventually scrapped, but protests developed into a wider anti-government campaign with escalated levels of violence.

Additional reporting by Park Chan-kyong