Confusion as Olympic organizers play wrong National Anthem for South Sudan
South Sudan Basketball squad were preparing to sing their national anthem in the game against Puerto Rico, when organizers at the Paris Olympics played the wrong anthem before columns of fans voiced their frustration by waving the South Sudan flags.
The confusing start to the match unfolded when an organizer announced; “Ladies and Gentlemen the National of South Sudan” before the Sudan national anthem rang and played on for a few seconds until the hiccup was detected.
The man in the mic then apologized, and in the time it took to search the right anthem, there could have been an uneasy moment of disappointment, but the entire stadium, including the opponents erupted in applause to show solidarity to South Sudan.
The incident occurred after another bizarre event in which South Korea’s athletes were mistakenly introduced as North Korean by announcers while they sailed down the River Seine and displaying their national flag during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Game.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) swiftly responded by issuing a “deep apology”, describing the incident as regrettable and attributing it to an operational error in a complex event.
South Sudan went on to hammer Puerto Rico 90-79, securing a revenge against the tricky North American side who last defeated them in their opening match of the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Despite Puerto Rico ending the first half with 54-48 lead, South Sudan managed to come back and lead in the third quarter with 71- 69, taking advantage of the opponent’s misfortune after star guard Jose Alvarado was forced to limp off the court.
Carlik Jones and Marial Shayok were the stars of the game – scoring 19 and 15 points respectively as South Sudan managed to blunt troublesome opponents to secure the eleven-point lead.
Puerto Rico stand at number 16th in the 2024 FIBA ranking – having participated in nine Olympics and 12 World Championships, although they have never won a medal at either competition.
South Sudan, who came close to shocking Team USA on July 20 before losing by a point, rank 33rd, and have beaten Great Britain and Portugal in their last two Olympic warm-up matches.
South Sudan are set to plat USA on July 31, and Serbia on August 3 in Group C.
