South Sudan's Olympic debut starts with National Anthem controversy: Here's what happened

The basketball games at the 2024 Paris Olympics have begun and it was South Sudan's turn to debut in the prestigious international sports meet. South Sudan was set to face Puerto Rico in their debut group stage game, however, the game saw a controversy before it even started.

Donatas Urbonas reported on the incident on X, and during the proceedings, players representing their nation lined up on the court for the national anthems. When it was time for the South Sudanese anthem, an error caused a big stir.

The organizers mistakenly played the national anthem of Sudan, the neighboring nation of the country playing in the game. This obviously caused a big stir among the players and the South Sudanese fans.

The mistake was quickly rectified and the teams had a great game at the biggest international stage. Puerto Rico started the first quarter strong and dominated the South-Sudanese racking up an eight-point lead.

However, their opponents quickly caught up with them in the following two quarters with the third quarter being the most impactful one. South Sudan went 23-15 in the third, catching up to Puerto Rico and building a lead that won them the game with a final score of 90-79.

Puerto Rico fans display warm gesture during South Sudan's national anthem controversy

The Puerto Rico fans at the Villeneuve d'Ascq arena had a warm and respectful response to the national anthem error during the team's presentation. Realizing that it was the wrong national anthem that was played for their opponents, the Puerto Rican fans rose from their seats and started clapping to show their support for the South Sudanese players.

Almost 27,000 people started clapping and the Puerto Rican players joined their supporters showing their appreciation as well. The South Sudan Men's Basketball Team has been exceptionally good in their exhibition games ahead of the Paris Olympics, winning one of them and losing another by a slim margin.

They won their matchup against Great Britain with a final score of 84-81 and also gave the star-studded basketball lineup of the United States of America good for their money. The USA was only able to grab victory in the final moments of the game when they denied a final basket attempt from South Sudan. The victory margin was only one point with the USA closing out the game at 101-100.