HONG KONG: Hong Kong football fans had been heard booing China’s national anthem on Saturday (Sep 24) at the first match up open to spectators within the city since legislation outlawing the exercise was passed over two years ago.
Supporters in Hong Kong have been barred from games for almost three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but boos at the anthem had been previously heard within the stands as massive, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests swept the town in 2019.
Police equipped with video cameras looked on as fans booed “March of the Volunteers” for approximately 10 seconds upon Saturday before the Hk team took on Myanmar in front of a lot more than 12, 000 vistors, according to local mass media and an AFP reporter on the picture.
China enforced a sweeping nationwide security law upon Hong Kong in 2020 that outlaws works of secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign energies.
Hong Kong’s legislature also handed a bill specifically criminalising disrespectful acts for the anthem, with a maximum penalty of 3 years in jail.
Long queues had been seen snaking outdoors Hong Kong Stadium on Saturday night as fans queued just for tickets for the extremely anticipated return to actions.
When China’s national anthem was played, loud booing was clearly audible, though not on levels heard before the security law has been passed, according to the AFP reporter.
Once the song was over, fans loudly chanted “We are Hong Kong”.
Within November 2019, lengthy and loud booing at the anthem had been heard at two Asian qualifiers for your World Cup whenever Hong Kong played Bahrain and Cambodia at the same stadium.
The Hong Kong Football Association was fined thirty, 000 Swiss francs (US$30, 500) simply by FIFA as a consequence.
In July a year ago, a man was charged with insulting the particular anthem for booing the song when watching a testing at a local shopping mall of Hong Kong fencer Edgar Cheung getting a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics.