Nagoya mayor apologizes for playing wrong anthem

• By Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNA

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Nagoya Mayor Ichiro Hirosawa yesterday apologized for playing the Iranian national anthem at the awards ceremony for a Taiwanese athlete and other mistakes at the ongoing Asian Para Games.

Hirosawa, who is a member of the game’s organizing committee, said the wrong national anthem was played three times during the event hosted mainly in his city and the surrounding Aichi Prefecture.

“It is necessary to investigate whether double verification and other procedures had been followed, or if the mistakes were made despite the implementation of these procedures,” he said.

“I am very sorry for the mistake,” Hirosawa added.

On Monday, the Iranian national anthem was played at the award ceremony for Taiwan and Mongolia’s para taekwondo athletes, who took gold in the men’s and women’s events respectively.

The event organizers also played the South Korean national anthem instead of the Chinese anthem before the women’s match between China and Iran. They realized the mistake five seconds into the broadcast and switched to the correct anthem.

Citing the game’s organizing committee, the English-language media outlet Nippon.com said that an incorrect playback setting in the software was to blame.

The incidents were not the first time sports organizers from Nagoya and Aichi played the wrong national anthem.

The North Korean anthem was played last month during the men’s hockey match between South Korea and Bangladesh at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, which also prompted apologies from the event organizers.