HK sports federation urges government to push Google again over another anthem blunder

Sports Federation and Olympic Committee (SF&OC) honorary vice chairman Pui Kwan Kay has urged the government to push Google in ensuring the correct Chinese national anthem appears as the top search result for certain keywords, following several anthem blunders at international sports events.

This comes after a song related to the 2019 protest in Hong Kong was played during an international ice hockey competition in Bosnia on Tuesday. According to the video of the match, the Hong Kong athletes had put up a "T" sign with their hands to lodge a protest immediately, then the organiser made correction at once. The organiser said the accident was not intentional and it has apologised to the Hong Kong team representatives. It also said preventive measures have been taken with the committee. 

Pui said on a RTHK programme on Thursday, that repeated errors would leave a bad impression on the public, but he believed that the hockey association has tried its best in providing the correct version of the anthem to the organiser, including submitting the right media toolkit to the committee. "Past anthem blunders were a result of the incorrect song being displayed as the top search result. This time is not an exception," Pui added. 

He said the committee has requested the Hong Kong Ice Hockey Association to launch a probe into the incident and submit a report explaining the cause of the incident. "The government has the responsibility to continue the attempt to intervene with tech giant Google to ensure top searches will show the right national anthem," he added. 

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SF&OC has also been in touch closely with the Hong Kong Ice Hockey Association (HKIHA) to understand the situation and understood that HKIHA has acted according to the relevant guidelines issued by SF&OC earlier to provide the event organiser with the correct version of our national anthem. The athletes and team manager involved have responded immediately in an appropriate manner during the incident, and notified the organiser to stop and make correction swiftly. This proves that the relevant guidelines have all along been effective. SF&OC has instructed HKIHA to investigate the cause of the incident with the organiser in detail and submit a report.

On the other hand, the Hong Kong government strongly deplores the mistake made when incorrect music was played as the national anthem after the Hong Kong versus Iran match in the Ice Hockey World Championship held in Bosnia on 28 February.

The government attaches great importance to the incident and has requested the SF&OC to conduct an in-depth investigation, including whether the relevant national sports association had, as stipulated in the guidelines, checked on site with the event organiser to ensure that the National Anthem to be played was correct. The government also urges the SF&OC to submit a report as soon as possible, and follow up on the incident in a serious manner.

In fact, this is not the first anthem blunder at international sports events. Back in November last year, "Glory to Hong Kong" was mistakenly played as the national anthem of China at the men’s final between Hong Kong and South Korea of the second leg of the Asian Rugby Seven Series held in South Korea on 13 November. The organiser did not stop the song or replay the correct national anthem. 

Soon after the incident, the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau said its secretary Sun Dong had discussed with Google and YouTube about the matter. Sun pointed out to Google that some search results displayed incorrect online information, which would not only easily provide excuses for the behaviour of some people with ulterior motives, but also mislead local and overseas netizens. Few days later, Google defended its decision to refuse the Hong Kong authorities’ request of manually placing the correct information of the Chinese national anthem as a top search result on its sites.

(Photo courtesy: YouTube channel @play365alltime)

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