The much anticipated London 2012 Olympic Games got under way Wednesday with the women’s football kicking off with a game between North Korea and Colombia.
Or at least it was supposed to.
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As it happened someone behind the scenes played the video of all the North Korean player’s with their names on the big screen shown next to a big South Korean flag. This did not go down well and the North Korean players left the pitch in protest.
North Korea is still technically at war with South Korea after the conflict in the 1950s ended in an armistice.
The North Korean players sat around in the changing room in their football kits for an hour until they were persuaded to commence with the game, after the correct flag was shown on-screen, albeit without the players’ details. The fans were left with just a message that there was a technical problem that was being worked on and no proper explanation was given at the time.
When the players returned to the pitch they were wearing bibs and brought football training equipment for a second warm-up. This turned the crowd and brought a lot of boos to the atmosphere.
It was an embarrassing mistake to make, but it still shouldn’t have been made in the first place. Considering international relations between the two nations it’s likely a head may roll behind closed doors.
Not the greatest start to the Games then. North Korea went on to win the game 2-0, although whether it would have been the same result without the error we will never know. It may have been just the motivation the players needed.
North Korea are not expected to be in contention for any of the football medals, but the organisers will be keeping a close eye on their next game and it would be safe to assume there may be some kind of flag awareness training for everyone in the media to avoid a bigger mistake.
Image Rights: James Crossan
