Hon. Monday Kumba, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs - Courtesy of the Office of the President

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs has informed lawmakers that they have received a verbal apology from the Olympic committee regarding the mistaken use of the wrong national anthem.

This follows a member of parliament blaming the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the wrong national anthem being played during the basketball game between South Sudan and Puerto Rico on Sunday.

Hon. Farouq Gatkouth stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has failed to properly inform the world about the country and its national anthem.

“To the Minister of Foreign Affairs on Sunday, July 28, 2024, the national anthem of South Sudan was misquoted and we heard the national anthem of Sudan and it was an embarrassing situation for us,” said Hon. Gatkuoth.

“I believe this is your mistake on the part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From day one, the world should have been informed about our national anthem, our identity, and other relevant details. What is going on in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?” he said.

Responding to the MP’s question, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Monday Kumba told lawmakers that the incident was unexpected and disappointing.

He explained that the ministry is investigating the cause of this mistake.

“To us in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this is what happened in Paris: they played the national anthem of Sudan instead of our beautiful national anthem,” Hon Kumba said.

“This is unacceptable and disappointing, something we did not expect. I was expecting you to inform us after receiving messages from my various sources,” he said.

“We have conducted serious communication with our Embassy in Paris to know exactly what happened, and we were formally informed of the situation.

“I believe you are also aware that we have very senior members of our government there representing our country, led by the senior advisor general and other ministers, as well as many young and other officials.”

He went on to say the ministry will engage with the Olympic Committee to find out what led to the mistake.

“After getting this information, we have tabled a formal expression of disappointment to the international committee of the Olympics. We have received a verbal apology,” he said.

“I would like to say that none of us here can accept this. We always feel proud when we sing and listen to our national anthem. It is our wish that such mistakes do not happen at any other forum,” he added.

“We have conducted these investigations, gathered enough information from Paris, and are addressing this matter very seriously.”

Before the match against Puerto Rico, the Sudan national anthem was played instead of South Sudan twenty seconds after it started, leaving the team’s players stunned.

The Olympic organizing committee made an error by playing the Sudanese national anthem instead of the South Sudan national anthem.

Despite this mishap, South Sudan achieved a historic victory in its first basketball game at the Olympics, defeating Puerto Rico, ranked 17th in the world, with a score of 90-79 after trailing by 9 points in the first quarter.