Hong Kong should file complaint to rugby world body, push to ban South Korea from hosting events, sports chief says over protest song blunder
- Ronnie Wong, honorary secretary general of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, rejects organisers’ apology and ‘honest mistake’ explanation
- He suggests city should stop sending teams to the country, yet ‘try not to affect athletes’
Hong Kong should file a complaint to the world governing body for rugby and push to ban South Korea from hosting such events, a sports sector leader in the city has said over a blunder at a match in Incheon where a 2019 protest song was played instead of the Chinese national anthem.
Ronnie Wong Man-chiu, honorary secretary general of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, on Wednesday said he would not accept the explanation from Asia Rugby, the tournament organisers, that it was an “honest mistake” made by interns.
The regional competition organiser and the Korea Rugby Union which helped in the hosting of the event should still be held accountable, Wong argued, calling for the filing of complaints to higher-level organisations such as World Rugby, the Olympic Council of Asia and the International Olympic Committee.
“South Korea is experienced in hosting multiple large-scale competitions, I don’t understand how it could become such a ‘child’s play’ this time,” Wong told a radio programme.
“I think World Rugby could look into whether [South Korea] should still host large-scale matches, or should be banned or boycotted for a while,” he said, adding one option could be for Hong Kong to stop sending teams to competitions there.
“Of course we try not to affect the athletes.”
At Sunday’s final of the second leg of the Asian Rugby Sevens Series in Incheon, the song “Glory to Hong Kong” was played instead of the Chinese national anthem “March of the Volunteers” as the Hong Kong team prepared to play hosts South Korea. The blunder sparked condemnation from city officials and politicians.
