The blunder took place on January 3 prior to the opening singles match in Sydney of the ATP Cup between Moldova’s Alexandru Cozbinov and Belgium’s Steve Darcis.

“At the start of the Moldova v Belgium match, we mistakenly played the wrong national anthem for Moldova,” the ATP organizers said in a statement on January 3.

“We are sincerely sorry and have apologized personally to Team Moldova.”

Moldova was one of the last countries to qualify for the inaugural team event being played in the Australian cities of Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth.

Moldova is in a group that also features Britain, Belgium, and Bulgaria.

Based on reporting by AFP