WRONG national anthem played at Paris Olympics as South Sudan team left baffled ahead of historic game

South Sudan's Olympic debut in basketball came with a top-notch 90-79 victory over Puerto Rico.

WRONG national anthem played at Paris Olympics as South Sudan team left baffled ahead of historic game

South Sudan Basketball players

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, a huge blunder occurred during a basketball match involving South Sudan. The African nation, that became a sovereign country in 2011 after a civil war, saw the incorrect national anthem being played before their match against Puerto Rico. After twenty seconds, the audio track was stopped.

The supporters of both teams in Pierre Mauroy Stadium initially booed the Olympic management while the South Sudanese athletes and their staff stood in confusion. The fans later began clapping together as the South Sudan players stood and waited for the dispute to be resolved, with their hands covering their hearts.

However, this blunder did not go down well with most of the Sudanese players as they labeled it as “disrespectful”, per reports.

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They [the organizers] have to be better because this is the biggest stage, and you know that South Sudan is playing, There’s no way you can get that wrong by playing a different anthem. It’s disrespectful.
Majok Deng, one of the players, said per BBC

The Sudanese players handled the situation gracefully and moved on without making a big fuss on national TV. On the contrary, South Sudan’s Olympic debut in basketball began with a top-notch 90-79 victory over Puerto Rico. This was the same side that lost to the mighty Team USA in an exhibition game by just one point.

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South Sudan coach Royal Ivey shares his take on National Anthem blunder

Some have felt that the 2024 Paris Olympics has not been up to the mark, with quite a handful of controversial incidents. South Sudan head coach, Royal Ivey, who is American by nationality, opened up on the situation and his players after the national anthem blunder.

It's the pride for their country, South Sudan. 'Sud' means 'the land of the Black.' These guys wanted to play. Wanted to hear their anthem. They messed up on the anthem, but they got it correct. We all make mistakes. I'm definitely going to put that in comments. But at the end of the day, these guys are brothers.
Royal Ivey in the post-game press conference

Ivey saw the positive in the situation as well as the unfortunate. It remains to be seen what happens next with the 2024 Paris Olympics in the coming days.

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