Kazakhstan Plays Wrong Anthem on Syrian FIBA Qualifiers Opening | Mistake?

In one of the first legs of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, host Kazakhstan played the wrong national anthem for Syria. The hosts played the Iranian national anthem. Was it an honest mistake? Was it a simple oversight?

According to albawaba.com, “As soon as the Iranian anthem was played, Syrian players who were preparing to sing theirs looked confused but continued to sing the Syrian national anthem on top of the music featuring the Iranian one.

As soon as people watching the game noticed this incident, they took to social media expressing shock and anger and questioning whether it was an honest mistake by the organizers or if it is more of a political statement.

Online commentators referred to the growing Iranian role in Syria, especially in the years that followed the Syrian war since 2011. During the war, Iranian militias have been reportedly fighting alongside the Syrian government’s forces, which has been perceived by anti-government commentators as the “Iranian occupation of Syria”.

Syrian basketball officials filed a protest with FIBA, basketball’s world governing body, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry and the game’s organizers. The website middleeastmonitor.com says that, “According to Syria’s Al-Watan newspaper, Firas Moualla, the head of the Syrian General Sports Federation, said he had complained to the FIBA.

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He also mentioned that the Syrian Federation had complained to the Kazakh Foreign Ministry. The head of Syria’s Basketball Federation, Tarif Qutrash, blamed the Kazakh and Asian Federations for the mistake, saying the Kazakh team will be fined.”

The Syrian players appeared befuddled at first but sang the lyrics of their nation’s hymn. The players huddled after then sang the Syrian national anthem while being supported by the game’s technical committee.

The second leg will be played in Damascus on Monday and we hope the Syrians do not seek retribution by playing another nation’s national anthem. We also hope the Kazakhs offer sincere apologies for the mistake and do better next time.