Before the East Africans’ group match against Puerto Rico on Sunday, the wrong national anthem was played for about 20 seconds in Lille. The players and their fans initially stood confused on the pitch, which caused the spectators in the Pierre Mauroy Stadium to boo.
Shortly afterwards, the audience began to clap as the basketball players placed their hands on their hearts, apparently symbolizing unity. The correct anthem was played shortly afterwards to the cheers of the spectators. “If that was the case, then we apologize for the mistake,” said spokeswoman Anne Deschamps from the organizing committee of the games.
South Sudan won the match 90:79. The country only gained independence from Sudan in 2011, and there was a civil war from 2013 to 2018. It was not the first faux pas of this kind at the Summer Games. At the opening ceremony in Paris last Friday, the South Korean team was wrongly introduced as North Korea.