London 2012 organizers suffered major embarrassment on the opening day of sporting action after North Korea initially refused to play their women's football match against Colombia. The North Koreans left the pitch in protest shortly before the end of their scheduled warmup in Glasgow last night amid scenes of high farce as the South Korean flag was shown on the Hampden Park big screens alongside the North Korean team lineup, The Guardian reports.

The London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games issued an immediate apology to the North Korea team: "Today ahead of the women's football match at Hampden the South Korean flag was shown on a big screen instead of the flag of North Korea," a Locog statement read. "Clearly that is a mistake. We will apologise to the team and the national Olympic committee and steps will be taken to ensure no repeat" a Locog statement said.

North Korea's coach, Ui Gun-sin, said that winning their match 2-0 against Colombia did not compensate for the mix-up.