A national anthem blunder involving a pro-democracy protest song being erroneously played at an international sporting final has affected “all of Hong Kong’s athletes,” the chair of the city’s ice hockey body has said.
“Right before the playing of the national anthem, there is a feeling of uneasiness,” Mike Kan, the chairperson of the Hong Kong Ice Hockey Association, said on Tuesday. “Up until the moment the anthem is played, only then can [the athletes] feel that a burden has been lifted off of them.”
Kan made the comments while speaking at the airport as Hong Kong’s women’s ice hockey team returned to the city after scoring a historic win in Romania, where they triumphed in four of five games in their division at the Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship.
The victory came amid an ongoing controversy that saw Glory to Hong Kong, a song popular during the protests in 2019, played at a men’s hockey game in Bosnia and Herzegovina instead of China’s national anthem March of the Volunteers in February.
Last week, the sports federation representing Hong Kong at the Olympics warned in a strongly worded statement that it could suspend the association over the blunder, ordering it to submit a full written report on its “non-compliance.”
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung said on Saturday that the government sided with the federation, adding that if the association did not submit a satisfactory report, it may consider cutting subsidies.
‘Very proud of them’
The mishap at the ice hockey game was at least the fifth such incident involving the wrong song being played at an international sporting event in recent months.
Hong Kong authorities have referred to the tune being “closely associated with violent protests and the independence movement in 2019.” Though the protests attracted a handful of pro-independence activists, it was not one of the movement’s demands.
Appearing alongside Kan and the ice hockey players at the airport on Tuesday, team leader Annie Kwan said that this was the “most difficult year” in all her years overseeing the team.
“But let’s talk about some happy things. [The athletes]… were not defeated by Covid,” Kwan said. “This year, we won gold, silver and bronze medals. We’ve never had such a good result before.”
“I’m very, very proud of them,” she said.
She added that if the ice hockey association was found to have any “inadequacies,” the management should be held accountable.
“Please, please do not affect our athletes,” Kwan added.
Asked if there was concern about potential cuts to funding, athlete Chloe Chan said any cuts may affect the team’s “development.”
“In the long run, it’s hard to say [what] impact there may be. We may need to have some discussions with the government later,” Chan said.
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