**A major diplomatic incident marred the first day of competition at the London
Olympics when the North Korea women's football team walked off after the South
Korea flag was mistakenly displayed before their match against Colombia.
**
The error occurred at Glasgow's Hampden Park which was hosting
one of the day's six matches kicking off the women's tournament and led to a
delay of more than an hour before the game eventually started with the Koreans
winning 2-0.
The pre-match drama in Scotland overshadowed what followed on the pitch as
sporting action began around Britain two days before the official opening
ceremony of the Games in London on Friday.
The trouble began when the South Korea flag was shown on a giant screen
before the kick-off of the Group G match at Hampden, one of five venues hosting
games outside London, and Olympic organisers had to issue an apology.
"The South Korean flag was shown in the video package on the screen before
the kick-off and the North Koreans were naturally very upset about that,"
Hampden Park media manager Andy Mitchell told Reuters.
"We have made a full apology to the team and the North Korean NOC (National
Olympic Committee). A genuine mistake was made for which we apologise. Steps
will be taken to ensure it does not happen again."
When asked if he thought it was an accident, North Korea coach Sin Ui-gun was
not so sure and said he would ask the organisers the same question.
"We were angry because our players were introduced as if they were from South
Korea, which may affect us greatly as you may know," he said.
"Our team was not going to participate unless the problem was solved
perfectly and fortunately some time later, the broadcasting was corrected and
shown again live so we made up our mind to participate and go on with the
match," he added.
"If this matter cannot be solved, we thought going on was nonsense. Winning
the game cannot compensate for that thing."
LOCOG, the organising committee of the Games, issued a statement apologising
for the incident and also stressed it would not be repeated.
North Korea return to Hampden on Saturday for their next group match against
France.
**A major diplomatic incident marred the first day of competition at the London
Olympics when the North Korea women's football team walked off after the South
Korea flag was mistakenly displayed before their match against Colombia.
**
The error occurred at Glasgow's Hampden Park which was hosting
one of the day's six matches kicking off the women's tournament and led to a
delay of more than an hour before the game eventually started with the Koreans
winning 2-0.
The pre-match drama in Scotland overshadowed what followed on the pitch as
sporting action began around Britain two days before the official opening
ceremony of the Games in London on Friday.
The trouble began when the South Korea flag was shown on a giant screen
before the kick-off of the Group G match at Hampden, one of five venues hosting
games outside London, and Olympic organisers had to issue an apology.
"The South Korean flag was shown in the video package on the screen before
the kick-off and the North Koreans were naturally very upset about that,"
Hampden Park media manager Andy Mitchell told Reuters.
"We have made a full apology to the team and the North Korean NOC (National
Olympic Committee). A genuine mistake was made for which we apologise. Steps
will be taken to ensure it does not happen again."
When asked if he thought it was an accident, North Korea coach Sin Ui-gun was
not so sure and said he would ask the organisers the same question.
"We were angry because our players were introduced as if they were from South
Korea, which may affect us greatly as you may know," he said.
"Our team was not going to participate unless the problem was solved
perfectly and fortunately some time later, the broadcasting was corrected and
shown again live so we made up our mind to participate and go on with the
match," he added.
"If this matter cannot be solved, we thought going on was nonsense. Winning
the game cannot compensate for that thing."
LOCOG, the organising committee of the Games, issued a statement apologising
for the incident and also stressed it would not be repeated.
North Korea return to Hampden on Saturday for their next group match against
France.