Hong Kong protest song played at sports event instead of Chinese anthem

Sarajevo [Bosnia and Herzegovina], March 2 : A pro-democracy protest song Glory to Hong Kong was played at a sports event in Bosnia and Herzegovina in place of the Chinese anthem titled China's March of the Volunteers on Tuesday night, Hong Kong Free Press reported.
The blunder occurred at an ice hockey game in Sarajevo and is the sixth such event to have occurred in a year, amid a month-long dispute over the mix-ups.
After 90 seconds, the song - which was connected to the 2019 protests and unrest - was interrupted and the proper anthem began to play. As the song began to play following their victory over Iran in the World Championship Division III Group B game, several Hong Kong hockey players performed the "time out" sign, according to Hong Kong Free Press.
An announcer said, "We are really sorry, it will be remedied," before the correct song was played.
The Hong Kong government, on Wednesday, expressed its "deep unhappiness" at this recent gaffe. According to directives provided by the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, athletes protested right away (SF&OC).
It made an appeal to the organisers to make rectification and demanded the local Olympic committee to launch an investigation if the sports association concerned had re-confirmed with the organisers that the anthem, that was to be played, was the right one.
A report in Hong Kong Free Press states that the government also made a request to the committee to submit a report and appealed to the organization to "solemnly follow up" on the incident. A government statement in Chinese read, "The HKSAR government affirms the performance of Hong Kong athletes in safeguarding the dignity of the country on the spot."
The Hong Kong Ice Hockey Association (HKIHA), according to the SF&OC, acted in accordance with its rules and gave the event's organisers a correct version of the national anthem on Wednesday: "The athletes and team manager involved have responded immediately in an appropriate manner during the incident, and have advised the organizer to stop and make correction swiftly." This demonstrates that the pertinent rules have been valid for the entire time.
They instructed the HKIHA to thoroughly look into the incident's cause and produce a report.
When contacted by HKFP, a Security Bureau spokesperson said that all cases will be handled in accordance with the law. Whether a person or entity violates the law would depend on the actual circumstances of the case, including the facts, the relevant acts, the evidence gathered, etc.
During the Asian Classic Powerlifting Tournament in Dubai in December, local gold medalist Susanna Lin performed the "time out" sign while Glory to Hong Kong was played.
At the Rugby Sevens in South Korea in November of last year, the protest song was played instead of the national anthem. As the authorities sought an investigation, it spurred Asia Rugby President Qais Abdulla Al Dhalai to fly into the city and apologise.
It came to the fore that organisers had allegedly downloaded the first that came on their screen when they searched for the Hong Kong national anthem.
In the days that followed, incidents of Glory to Hong Kong being twice mistakenly identified as the "National Anthem of Hong Kong" in television footage at other rugby matches appeared.
Late last year, the government requested that a search engine place accurate information about the national anthem at the top of their search results. The search engine in question, according to local media, was Google.
In response to the instances, the government declared in January that it was working on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for their official websites. Yet, the Wikipedia entry for the protest song came up first when HKFP conducted a search for the "Hong Kong national anthem" in English on Wednesday while browsing incognito.
The song is closely associated with violent protests and the independence movement in 2019, according to the administration. Although some pro-independence activists attended the demonstrations, it was not one of the demands of the campaign, reported Hong Kong Free Press.