Malaysia basketball chief disciplined over flag blunder

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s basketball chief has taken indefinite leave after an incorrect version of the national flag was displayed at a youth tournament, sparking nationwide outrage, accusations of “betrayal” and even a police probe.

The angry response echoes the heated reactions seen after similar gaffes at international events, but it’s rare for such an incident to cause problems at an entirely domestic tournament.

The faulty flag was displayed on a screen in a Kuala Lumpur stadium at the opening of an under-15 national basketball tournament at the weekend. It featured a five-pointed star, while the official flag has a star with 14 points.

It also had only 10 stripes, instead of the usual 14. Social media exploded with outrage, while the education minister slammed the blunder as a “betrayal to our nationalism” and police hauled in national basketball chief Lua Choon Hann for questioning. With little sign of anger abating, the Malaysia Basketball Association announced late Thursday that Lua was going on

indefinite leave as he felt he was “ultimately responsible”.

But the association added in a statement that it “stands by our stance that this incident is purely an unintentional oversight”, and blamed an outside company for the flag error.