Olympic Organisers Apologise To Nigeria Over Anthem Mix-up

The local organising committee of Rio 2016 has
admitted that it played the wrong national when
the Eagles faced Japan on Thursday and
tendered an apology. Nigerian egos were bruised
during Thursday’s match against Japan in the
Men’s Football Event of the 2016 Olympic
Games when a wrong national anthem was
played.
The Eagles looked confused when the strange
tune came up over the Amazon Arena's public
address system in Manaus, as a few players tried
to find out what was going on.
The Daily Telegraph of Sydney wrote that “the
Super Eagles had to look serious and emotional
to a tune they had never heard before.”
Nigeria had arrived late for the game after failing
to find a flight from their training base in Atlanta,
USA, only for them to be welcomed by a wrong
national song.
However, they went on to win 5-4 in a very
interesting encounter despite jetlag and an odd
anthem that could not demoralize them.
“We understand hearing your national anthem
during an Olympic Games is something nearly
every athlete strives for. Therefore, we regret a
wrong anthem was mistakenly played for Nigeria
ahead of their match against Japan in the
Amazon Arena. We sincerely apologize to the
players and the Nigerian National Olympic
Committee,” Rio 2016 organisers told Goal
in an email statement.
International Media Manager Phillip Wilkinson
informed Goal that the anthem played was that
of Nigeria’s neighbour to the north Niger, which
could explain why the mix-up happened.
There has been no statement from the Nigerian
Olympic Committee.
This is not the first time a Nigeria anthem has
suffered a mix-up in an international competition
of such magnitude.
A Panapress report indicated that Nigeria
officials accused Tunisia of destabilizing their
players during a semi-final game at the 2004
Africa Cup of Nations when it aired the old
anthem “Nigeria we hail thee” instead of “Arise O
Compatriots”. The hosts played the correct
anthem at half time as they went on to win via
penalty shootout.
At Copa America Centenario in the United States
last June, organizers played the Chilean national
anthem instead of the Uruguayan anthem during
a group game with Mexico. The Uruguayans, who
were without talisman Luis Suarez, lost 3-1.
In another major anthem gaffe, Canadians were
left angry during a gold medal ceremony at the
1975 Pan-American Games when the English
anthem “God Save the Queen” was played
instead of “O Canada.”
Nigeria will play their second game of the
competition against Sweden in Manaus on
Sunday night at 11pm. They would expect the
organizers to have the right anthem in hand.