Fans foam with anger: anthem chaos at the Rugby World Cup

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During the Rugby World Cup in France, the anthems were played over the stadium loudspeakers before matches, to unusually strong criticism. Many fans find most of it annoying.

The trigger for this is the project “La Mêlée des Choeurs”. 7,000 schoolchildren from different backgrounds recorded the national anthem for each participating country in advance – divided over different choirs and without accompanying music. The reactions in the stadiums were negative.

The first problems arose in the opening match between France and New Zealand. Apparently the French players in ‘La Marseillaise’ are completely out of step – unlike the schoolchildren who sing along in the canon, writes ‘The Guardian’. Same problem before the start of the other seven games. That’s why organization president Jacques Rivoal, 65, said: “We are here to prioritize the fan experience, and this negative feedback concerns us greatly.”

Found solution for anthem chaos

On Tuesday, organizers responded to the criticism and introduced simplified versions. However, the singing children’s voices are retained. Shortly after the announcement, tournament director Michel Poussau commented: “We can have anthems that are closer to expectations, but still have the grade of these kids, who I would like to say were great, worked very hard and deserved to take part to be part of this tournament.”

But it will not be quiet at the World Cup. The organizers are struggling with an additional challenge: apparently there are more and more problems entering the stadium. Especially ahead of Saturday’s match between Argentina and England, thousands of ticket holders missed the start of the match due to limited access, turnstiles, insufficient staff and extensive security checks.

It is not surprising that Poussat draws a modest conclusion about the first weekend of the tournament: “It is very clear that not everything went well in the first weekend. This is not really a surprise to us. The beginning is always very complex.” (Gentlemen)

Source : Blick