LONDON: South Africa have received an official apology from British hockey bosses yesterday after the apartheid anthem ‘Die Stem’ was mistakenly played before their match in the pre-Olympic London Cup on Tuesday.
Marissa Langeni, chief executive of the South African Hockey Association, in a letter to tournament organizers, said the country “watched with disbelief as our team stood through what clearly was a most embarrassing and uncomfortable experience.”
South Africa’s women went on to beat their British counterparts 3-1 in their opening game and GB Hockey apologized Wednesday for their embarrassing error.
“Great Britain Hockey, the organizer of the Investec London Cup, offers a full and unreserved apology to the South African women’s hockey team and their supporters for mistakenly playing the wrong national anthem before South Africa’s match with Great Britain on Tuesday afternoon,” chief executive Sally Munday said.
“The error was made by a contractor responsible for sports presentation at the event.
“Standard procedure would be to check anthems to be played with visiting teams in advance, however, on this occasion that did not happen and Great Britain Hockey accepts full responsibility.
“Great Britain Hockey and its contractor appreciate the sensitive nature of this unfortunate mistake and we apologize unreservedly for the offense caused.
“The correct anthem will be played before all of South Africa’s remaining matches, beginning with the team’s second fixture against Germany on Wednesday evening.”
