XtraTime Web Desk: In a major gaffe the official guide of the Commonwealth Games wrongly printed England as part of the African continent. The organizers find themselves in an embarrassing situation as England was listed as an African country with a population of two million in the official programme.
Australian organisers sought to make light of the embarrassment after England were somehow confused with Gambia, a West African nation which rejoined the Commonwealth in February after leaving in 2013.
“There was an overprint,” said Mark Peters, chief executive of the Gold Coast Games.
The official guide to the Games, which profiles the 71 participating nations and territories and was published ahead of Wednesday’s opening ceremony, claims Banjul as England’s capital.
The fact that Gambia became a republic within the Commonwealth in 1970, the same year that England joined the Games led to the confusion.
English officials apparently saw the funny side and declined an offer from organisers to tear up the guides and undergo a reprint, due to cost. But still the organisers are doing a special reprint of 500 copies to distribute it to the English and the Commonwealth Games Federation to make sure that in terms of records, that’s done correctly.