Finger-pointing continues as rugby anthem row heats up

The national anthem blunder in South Korea's Asia Rugby Sevens has become muddy as the Korean organizer, SAR and Asia Rugby unions have told different versions of what caused the mishap.

It was confirmed yesterday that an intern made an unintentional error with no ulterior motives when a protest anthem was played in place of the Chinese national anthem at the Asian Sevens Series in Incheon on Sunday.

But the Hong Kong Rugby Union warned of immediate withdrawal from competitions if similar blunders happen again.

A newspaper reported yesterday that the organizer, Korea Rugby Union, blamed the Hong Kong team for failing to submit a national anthem, prompting its staff member to download one on her own.

Asia Rugby informed the Korean union later it should play China's national anthem for the Hong Kong team.

Speaking at an online press conference yesterday, Asia Rugby's interim chief executive, Benjamin van Rooyen, admitted the Asian union did not send the Korea Rugby Union an audio file for Sunday's tournament, but claimed the Korean union should already have a copy of the audio file of China's national anthem, March of the Volunteers, as the Hong Kong team played in South Korea in July.

Van Rooyen said the Hong Kong Rugby Union had previously provided Asia Rugby with an audio file of the Chinese anthem when the Hong Kong team played in Bangkok last month.

Despite that, the Asian union did not send a copy of the file to the Korean union for Sunday's tournament.

He said the zip folder sent to the broadcasting team contained a file of Glory to Hong Kong - a song symbolizing the 2019 anti-extradition protests - which had been mistakenly downloaded from the internet.

"What I understand from Korea Rugby was that in the zip folder, there was a song - the song that was played - the wrong one. It was in the folder and it was never deleted," he said.

He added that it was an innocent mistake committed by an intern who had "no understanding of the politics of the world."

"I don't think there were any ulterior motives in any of this," he said.

He added that local unions would enter agreements with Asia Rugby to ensure that they only play audio files provided by the regional governing body.

Hong Kong police have been in contact with the Hong Kong team, but not Asia Rugby.

The Hong Kong Rugby Union said that Asia Rugby confirmed with Hong Kong team management on October 23 that the Chinese national anthem should be played for the SAR team.

The union said although it accepted the blunder was unintentional, it was still extremely dissatisfied.

It added that the occurrence of similar events "shall necessitate the team's immediate withdrawal from competition."

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu called the blunder unacceptable and that the police Organized Crime and Triad Bureau is investigating the playing of "a song closely associated with violent protests and the independence movement in 2019."

Speaking on a radio program, Executive Council convener Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee said she didn't believe it was a careless mistake, adding that officers should look into whether someone from Hong Kong had conspired with South Korean nationals to conduct seditious or subversive acts.

She said if South Korean nationals are believed to have engaged in criminal acts, Hong Kong can request Seoul to extradite them to face trial here.