Sydney: Organisers of the ATP Cup tennis tournament were left red-faced Friday by playing the wrong national anthem for a player from Moldova, a small landlocked country in eastern Europe.
The embarrassing gaffe occurred ahead of the opening singles tie here of the heavily-promoted new team event as Moldova’s Alexander Cozbinov faced Belgium’s Steve Darcis.
Tournament officials told this agency the Romanian anthem was played instead.
“At the start of the Moldova vs Belgium match we mistakenly played the wrong national anthem for Moldova,” the ATP admitted in a statement. “We are sincerely sorry and have apologised personally to Team Moldova.”
Cozbinov, who lost in three tough sets, played down the mishap. “I think putting on the wrong anthem for us is not a big deal. But it wasn’t that hard to pick the right anthem,” said Cozbinov. “Moldova and Romania have the same flag so probably that’s why they made a mistake. Hopefully next time it’s going to be the right one,” he added.
Cozbinov’s opponent Darcis said he was not aware of the mistake at the time. “I didn’t know, I was just surprised that they were not so much into it,” he said. “But what has happened, I believe it’s bad.”
Moldova, bordered by Romania and Ukraine, was one of the last countries to qualify for the inaugural team event being played in here, Brisbane and Perth.
AFP