Thailand apologizes for not playing the national anthems of Vietnam and Laos

The host country of the 33rd SEA Games, Thailand, has sent a letter of apology to the Olympic Committees of Vietnam and Laos after the incident of not playing the national anthem before the match between U22 Vietnam and U22 Laos.

U22 Vietnam players had to sing the national anthem themselves before the match against U22 Laos - Photo: NK

On the evening of December 3, the 33rd SEA Games Organizing Committee sent a letter of apology to the Vietnam Olympic Committee after the incident of not playing the national anthem before the match between U22 Vietnam and U22 Laos in the opening match of Group B of the 33rd SEA Games at Rajamangala Stadium.

This is considered a serious incident, very rare at high-profile events. Therefore, players from both teams had to sing their national anthems before the match started.

Immediately after the match, the 33rd SEA Games organizing committee immediately sent a letter of apology to the Olympic Committees of Vietnam and Laos.

"We would like to extend our deepest apologies to all parties involved for the technical problems during the football match between U22 Laos and U22 Vietnam, which resulted in the inability to perform the national anthems of the two countries as scheduled," the apology letter read.

The organizers also pledged not to let this incident happen again, and apologized once again for any disappointment caused by the above incident.

Previously, Thai media also immediately criticized the country's organizing committee for not playing the national anthem at the match between U22 Vietnam and Laos.

Despite many difficulties, the Vietnam U22 team defeated Laos U22 2-1 after a double from striker Dinh Bac.

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NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thailand-xin-loi-vi-su-co-khong-phat-quoc-ca-viet-nam-va-lao-20251203204938566.htm