April 5, 2023
HONG KONG – The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government on Tuesday said it supported the decision of the city’s top sports federation to start the process to suspend the Hong Kong Ice Hockey Association over a national anthem blunder in late February.
In a statement, the HKSAR government said it backed the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC) request for the HKIHA to provide a full written explanation about their non-compliance with the federation’s national anthem guidelines and to submit a plan of improvement on.
“In the event that suspension of the HKIHA’s membership is affirmed by the SF&OC through the passage of a special resolution, the HKSAR government will, under the premise of not affecting the athletes, consider reducing the subvention to the HKIHA correspondingly as punishment,” the statement reads.
At the Ice Hockey World Championship on Feb 28 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a song linked to Hong Kong’s 2019 anti-government protests was played instead of the national anthem for the Hong Kong team.
The HKSAR government said it received on March 27 the final investigation report submitted by the SF&OC on the incident.
“The national anthem is a symbol and sign of the country and should be respected on all occasions. The HKSAR government will impose severe sanctions for non-compliance without exception,” it added.