The body’s statement on Tuesday came one day after the SAR government received a report submitted by the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong explaining the timeline of a national anthem mix-up at an international ice hockey competition in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said yesterday that the government will discuss with the committee on how to handle the incident after reviewing the report.

The ice hockey association said in the statement today that they take full responsibility for the anthem blunder.

The association also explained the reason for them not responding to inquiries from the committee immediately after the incident is that they wanted to work out with the committee ways to improve the arrangement.

They also clarified that they were not waging a war of words with the committee by responding only to the media, in which they wish not to give vague responses to the committee before knowing the full picture of the incident.

The association again apologized for not being able to check with the organizer that day regarding the anthem, and that they will accept any consequences that come and will chalk it up to experience.