Wen – District Hanzong
The Hong Kong Association and Olympic Committee (HKCA) issued the "Guidelines on the Broadcasting of the National Anthem and the Raising of the District Flag during the Participation of Hong Kong Athletes and Teams in International Sports Events" to all sports federations under its authority, and athletes and teams who find that there is an error in the broadcasting of the national anthem or the raising of the district flag during their participation in international sports events must signal their objection to the organiser with a "T" gesture and request that the activity be suspended and corrected immediately. The HKMA Olympic Committee also provides the National Sports Federations with kits with the correct national anthem and regional flags, which are led by the Federation's designated team leaders to attend international events and used by the organisers.
Broadcast the wrong national anthem at international sporting events with the participation of Hong Kong teams. In the third tier of the IIHF World Championship 2023 in Bosnia, the Hong Kong men's ice hockey team played Iran in the group stage on February 28, winning 11-1, with an error in the national anthem broadcast after the game, which lasted about 10 seconds. Some members of the Hong Kong team immediately made a "T" gesture to call a halt, and some team members stepped forward to report to the meeting, and the conference apologized afterwards and correctly broadcast the Chinese national anthem.
On November 13, 2022, during the second leg of the Asian Rugby Sevens Series in Incheon, South Korea, the organizers misplayed the 2019 Hong Kong "anti-extradition bill" protest song instead of the Chinese national anthem "March of the Volunteers" during the second leg of the Asian Rugby Sevens Series in Incheon, South Korea. But nothing happened to the Hong Kong rugby team: from the manager to the head coach to the players, they all silently waited for the wrong song to play. As can be seen from the live broadcast clip, when the Hong Kong team listened to the national anthem hand by side, the "anti-extradition bill" demonstration song sounded on the scene, and the Huayang players of the Hong Kong team looked at each other, did not sing along, but did not protest or leave the venue, just waited for the song to be played.
The incident went viral on social networking sites, and the Hong Kong government, pro-China, and establishment factions immediately condemned and expressed dissatisfaction one after another. Among them, the leader of the Hong Kong team did not respond in time, reflecting the lack of national security education in Hong Kong. The establishment attacked the incident. Among them, the Election Committee member Ho Kwan-yiu posted on his social page that although the Hong Kong rugby team won the tournament in Incheon, the Hong Kong team members did not react when the national anthem was played incorrectly, which humiliated the country, believing that the Hong Kong rugby team members had completely failed and lost the confidence of Hong Kong people, "The only way at this moment is to disband the Hong Kong rugby team!" ”
Even if foreigners knew that the song in question was not the national anthem of China, the Hong Kong team players did not react in any way when they heard the song in question, which offended the country and embarrassed Hong Kong, involving standards and attitudes. A member of parliament said: "There is no reason why I don't know that it is not my national anthem, and if I really don't know, the standard is really too low." ”
An equally absurd scene came at the East Asian Cup football match in Hong Kong in 2022. However, in the East Asian Cup, when the national anthem was played, fans quickly discovered the absurd picture: almost none of the 11 players on the field sang along. Live television footage showed most of the Hong Kong team members keeping their mouths tightly shut as the national anthem sounded, for fear of leaking a hint of wind. On the screen, when the national anthem is played, not only is there no one to sing along, but the Hong Kong team members who stand in the first place lower their heads, which is completely incomprehensible.
On social platforms, some netizens soon commented on the two things together, calling them the two outrageous events of Hong Kong sports in 2022, which disgraced the face of Hong Kong sports.
After the two outrageous events in 2022, when the Hong Kong men's ice hockey team played the Iranian team on February 28 this year, when it made a mistake when playing the national anthem, the Hong Kong team showed its due national integrity and timely response, which is worthy of praise!