The lower-tier Trophy tournament, hosted in Indonesia, served as a qualifier, with the top team qualifying for the main series hosted in Thailand, South Korea, and UAE.

The Trophy was held from 6 to 7 August at the JGBK Rugby Pitch in Jakarta.

Asia Rugby apologised and explained that it was down to "simple human error" made by a junior member of staff.

The Chief Secretary for Administration, Eric Chan said the Hong Kong government raised "strong objection to the association for its inability" to prevent the mistake from happening.

While Chief Executive John Lee said that the "song that was played was closely connected to the 2019 violence and disturbances, and advocacy for Hong Kong's independence," and said that the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau would investigate the matter.