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The organisers of the Rugby World Cup have promised to address concerns over the national anthems at the tournament.<\/p>\n
While French TV channel TF1 had a 2023 record 15.4 million viewers on Friday for the curtain raiser between France and New Zealand, those watching on TV, and those in the stadiums, were puzzled, if not outraged, by the rendition of the national anthems.<\/p>\n
The anthems were sung in canon by a choir of children, which made for a barely audible hubbub as fans sang in unison.<\/p>\n
Organisers have been reviewing the anthems and submitted a new version – in which the children do not sing in canon – to the national federation, saying the reactions had been \u201cpositive\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur traditional fans were surprised, destabilised as they\u2019re used to different versions of the national anthems,\u201d said Rivoal.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe now have simplified versions although we have kept the children\u2019s voices.<\/p>\n
The tournament organisers have also apologised to the thousands of fans who were stuck outside the Marseille stadium and those who struggled to make their way to the Bordeaux arena.<\/p>\n
The World Cup pool D match between England and Argentina in Marseille got underway on Saturday to hundreds of empty seats as supporters were queuing outside, while in Bordeaux tramway problems delayed fans arrival for the Ireland v Namibia game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe apologise to the fans who missed kickoff. It was our responsibility,\u201d France 2023 president Jacques Rivoal told a press conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very confident in our capacity in our capacity and in the capacity of the organising committee to address these challenges and find de relevant solutions,\u201d tournament director Michel Pousseau said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe will never be complacent. Our ambition is to deliver the best for our fans. I want to acknowledge the frustration of our fans who could not make their way on time to the stadiums in Bordeaux and Marseille.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are looking to redeploy some volunteers to facilitate the fans\u2019 trip to the stadiums, which is what we did in Marseille as soon as Sunday,\u201d France 2023 director general Julien Collette said.<\/p>\n
France is under tight scrutiny with Paris hosting the Summer Olympics in 2024.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAll the government services are mobilised to assist us. Everything we are putting in place to facilitate fan experience will help for the Games,\u201d Rivoal said.<\/p>\n