- Wrong national anthem played for South Sudan at Olympics
- The crowd at the Pierre Mauroy stadium booed when the Sudanese anthem was played instead
- After a brief pause, the correct anthem was played
- The Paris 2024 Olympic Games organisers issued an apology, attributing the mistake to “human error”
- “There’s no way you can get that wrong by playing a different anthem. It’s disrespectful”
Wrong national anthem played for South Sudan at Olympics
Olympic organisers in France mistakenly played the wrong national anthem for South Sudan before their men’s basketball game against Puerto Rico. The crowd at the Pierre Mauroy stadium booed when the Sudanese anthem was played instead. After a brief pause, the correct anthem was played, receiving an ovation from the audience.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games organisers issued an apology, attributing the mistake to “human error.” South Sudan player Majok Deng called the error “disrespectful”.
“They [the organisers] have to be better because this is the biggest stage, and you know that South Sudan is playing,” said Majok Deng.
“There’s no way you can get that wrong by playing a different anthem. It’s disrespectful,” he continued.
“Obviously, nobody’s perfect. They made a mistake. They played it at the end, and we moved on.”
This incident follows another apology from the organisers, who mistakenly introduced South Korea’s athletes as the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” during the opening ceremony.
Despite the anthem mix-up, South Sudan’s team triumphed over Puerto Rico, winning 90-79. South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011, qualified for the Olympics for the first time last year. They also narrowly lost to the United States by one point in a recent exhibition game.
It is a shame how #ParisOlympics2024 organisers can't distinguish between #Sudan and #SouthSudan. Playing wrong national anthem? pic.twitter.com/d68YlzDSPz
— Christian Tani L (@clogoye) July 28, 2024