The Asian Cup qualifiers between India and Cambodia were delayed by seven minutes due to technical issues in the pre match rituals. The Cambodian players were left frustrated after a couple of glaring errors in the national anthem and also a flag mix up.
When both teams lined up for the national anthem, confusion started. It was announced that the Cambodian national anthem will go first but the Indian national anthem played. The Cambodian players were waiting for their national anthem.
On top of that, their national flag was cut to black on the digital screen, the delay was longer than expected which led to players going back to the dugout for refreshments. Later, the Cambodian national anthem was played on an official’s mobile phone after it was connected to a console.
Now, the Football Federation of Cambodia (FFC) has threatened to pull out of the Asian Cup with complaints of their national flag, “not taking care of Cambodian men’s national football team in terms of food, accommodation and the Cambodian flag” , said Cambodia football federation president Sao Sokha.
The match was held at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
