Asia Rugby Statement

Asia Rugby deeply regrets the incident of the wrong national anthem being played for the Hong Kong Men’s 7s team before the final at the Asia Rugby Sevens Series 2022 the second leg played in Incheon, South Korea on the 13th of November 2022.

Asia Rugby and Korea Rugby Union would like to sincerely apologise to the Hong Kong Rugby Union, the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for this incident.

The incident happened due to a simple human error from a junior member of the local organising committee, playing a song downloaded from the internet instead of the correct anthem.

Post the final match and prior to the awards ceremony, a public apology was announced in the stadium in Korean and English languages, and the Hong Kong men’s team lined up again and the anthem “The March of the Volunteers” was played.

Furthermore, Asia Rugby took the match footage off the air immediately and replaced it with the correct anthem on our social media platforms.

Below is the edited footage on Youtube.