A 19-year-old Hong Kong football fan has been convicted of insulting the national anthem by turning his back to the pitch when the song was played at a 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier match last year.
The trial earlier this year heard that police pulled the student aside at half-time after reviewing video footage and found he had turned away from the pitch and players and lowered his head while the national anthem was playing.
Police Superintendent Sean Lin, who videotaped the spectators’ stand that night, said Lau had stood normally with his head facing forward when Iran’s national anthem was played moments earlier.
The ordinance states that a person commits an offence if he or she publicly and intentionally insults the national anthem “in any way”.
