National anthem blunder: Hong Kong sports body pins blame for mix-up on ‘ill management’ of ice hockey group
- Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China says city’s ice hockey association ‘should bear consequences of such ill management’
- Latest episode in anthem blunder saga followed playing of protest song during 2023 Ice Hockey World Championship’s third division in Bosnia and Herzegovina in February
A report on the incident would also be submitted to the government on Monday, the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China said after a board meeting on Friday.
The move came after organisers of the 2023 Ice Hockey World Championship’s third division in Bosnia and Herzegovina on February 28 played a song linked to the 2019 anti-government protests instead of “March of the Volunteers” when Hong Kong beat Iran.
Hong Kong sports body, ice hockey team clash over national anthem blunder
But the federation stayed tight-lipped on how the association would be punished for the blunder.
“The incident could definitely have been avoided. The Hong Kong Ice Hockey Association should bear the consequences of such ill management,” federation chief Timothy Fok Tsun-ting said.
The board meeting came a day after the sports body met the ice hockey association, which also submitted a report on the incident to the federation on Monday.
The report was one of two submitted by the association, with the latest one clearing up uncertainties from the first, including whether a copy of the anthem was given to the event’s organisers or if the hosts had confirmed receiving it.
A team leader assigned by a sports association is required to provide event organisers with a USB drive that contains a copy of the national anthem.
The correct music can either be obtained from a toolkit provided by the federation or downloaded from an official website and saved as a hard copy.
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But Yang did not elaborate on the contents of the second report or whether the association had failed to deliver a hard copy to the event organisers.
The committee member instead urged the management of the ice hockey body to take their responsibilities seriously and avoid putting extra pressure on sportspeople.
“We recognise the contributions made by the athletes and the team leader. The federation is in the same boat as them,” Yang added.
The federation would wait for the government to study its report before it took further steps, he said.
Yang stressed that there was no need to amend the present guidelines as around 45 sports associations had managed to follow them without incident.
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In a statement issued subsequently, the federation hit out at the association’s executive committee, saying it did not offer any positive response to a request for details and a meeting, with the team manager only responding to media inquiries.
“Such an evasive attitude reflects that the attention the [association’s] executive committee is giving to the handling of the national anthem and the incident is seriously insufficient,” the statement said.
The federation said the blunder should not be solely borne by the team manager, as the association chairman and executive committee also had their own roles and accountability.
On Thursday, Annie Kwan, leader of the ice hockey team, said she agreed that “any organisation has room for improvement”, following a 45-minute meeting between the association and federation.
Kwan said there was no point worrying that her association would be punished, adding that she felt she was innocent.
