'False Information Provided In Anthem Blunder Report'

Sports officials on Friday accused the Hong Kong Ice Hockey Association (HKIHA) of providing false information in a report over a national anthem blunder in Bosnia.

The Sports Federation & Olympic Committee (SF&OC) said last month that it had initiated suspension proceedings against the association over an incident in which event organisers in Sarajevo played a song linked to Hong Kong's 2019 protests instead of the March of the Volunteers.

They said the suspension would go ahead if the ice hockey body didn't provide a full explanation within a month as to why it failed to follow guidelines on the playing of the anthem, also telling it to put forward proposals on enhancing governance.

Speaking a day after receiving the 11-page report, honorary secretary-general Edgar Yang said it was "very regrettable and disappointing" that allegations arising from exchanges between the SF&OC and the sport's body had caused misunderstandings.

He said the SF&OC was "even more disappointed" after reading the document, in which the ice hockey body said event organisers refused to take a USB stick containing a recording of the anthem, saying they already had a copy.

Yang said the HKIHA told an earlier meeting that it did not prepare a USB stick for the organisers.

The association's chairman Mike Kan initially agreed to discuss the blunder but changed his mind two days later, saying he needed to wait for the team's leader to return and that police had stepped in, Yang added.

He also stressed that the committee has never accused the ice hockey body of disrespecting the national anthem, only that it had failed to correctly handle the playing of it.

The HKIHA said in the report that it did not handle the national anthem in an "undignified" way.

The association also put forward suggestions on improving its corporate governance, including outlining the roles and responsibilities of the chairman and board members.