Photo Credit:AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
In a moment that should have been a celebration of South Sudan's first-ever Olympic appearance in men's basketball, organizers of the Paris 2024 Games committed an embarrassing gaffe by playing the wrong national anthem before the team's opening match against Puerto Rico on Sunday.
As players and fans stood ready at Lille's Pierre Mauroy Stadium, the familiar strains of Sudan's anthem - not South Sudan's - echoed through the arena. The audio was abruptly cut off after about 20 seconds, leaving athletes and spectators alike in a state of confusion.
"Obviously, we felt disrespected when that happened," said South Sudan forward Nuni Omot, who scored 12 points in the game. "We've got to still earn our respect."
The incident sparked an immediate reaction from the crowd, with boos quickly giving way to supportive applause as both South Sudanese and Puerto Rican players stood in solidarity during the awkward pause. After a three-minute delay, organizers managed to correct the error, playing
the proper anthem to an appreciative ovation.
South Sudan coach Royal Ivey acknowledged the mistake while emphasizing its impact on his team. "It's the pride for their country," Ivey said. "These guys wanted to play. Wanted to hear their anthem."
The Paris 2024 organizing committee issued a statement expressing "most sincere apologies to the team from South Sudan and their supporters for the human error," adding, "We fully understand the gravity of the mistake."
Despite the pre-game blunder, South Sudan's players channeled theirMfrustration into a historic performance on the court. Led by Carlik Jones's 19 points, the team rallied in the second half to secure a stunning 90-79 victory over Puerto Rico.
"It gave us fuel to the fire," Omot said of the anthem mix-up.
The win marks a significant milestone for South Sudan, which gainedMindependence from Sudan in 2011 after years of civil war. The country qualified for its first Olympics by finishing as Africa's top team in last year's World Cup.
South Sudan's triumph follows a narrow 94-93 loss to the United States in a pre-Olympic exhibition game last week, further establishing the team as a force to be reckoned with in international basketball.
As South Sudan prepares to face Team USA in their next Group C matchup on Tuesday, the focus has shifted from the pre-game mishap to the team's on-court potential. However, players like Majok Deng remain cognizant of the broader implications of such errors on the Olympic stage.
"There's no way you can get that wrong by playing a different anthem. It's disrespectful," Deng said. "Obviously, nobody's perfect. They made a mistake. They played it at the end, and we moved on."
