During the opening men’s basketball game against Puerto Rico at the Olympics 2024 in France, the wrong national anthem was played for South Sudan. Instead of their anthem, the anthem of Sudan was played at the Pierre Mauroy stadium, prompting boos from the crowd. The error was quickly corrected, followed by applause. The Paris Olympic Games organisers issued an apology for the mistake, describing it as a “human error.”
South Sudanese player Majok Deng expressed his disappointment, calling the error “disrespectful.” He emphasized the importance of accuracy, especially on such a significant stage. Deng acknowledged the mistake but stressed that it was crucial to get these details right.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games organisers extended their “most sincere apologies” to the South Sudan team. They recognized the seriousness of the error. This incident marked the second apology from the organisers. Earlier, they mistakenly introduced South Korea’s athletes as representing North Korea.
Despite the anthem blunder, the South Sudanese team triumphed over Puerto Rico with a score of 90 to 79. This marked a significant achievement for South Sudan. They gained independence from Sudan in 2011. South Sudan qualified for the Olympics for the first time last year. The team recently almost defeated the United States. They lost by just one point in the final moments.
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