KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 ― The Perak Basketball Association (PBA) has apologised for the mistake that resulted in one of its players wearing a jersey with the state flag inverted during an official game here yesterday.

A picture of the Perak player wearing the number 10 jersey during the opening ceremony of the National Under-15 Basketball Championship had spread on social media, irking many Malaysians for the inverted flag display.

PBA attributed the inverted flag to a manufacturing error and clarified that only one out of the 24 jerseys supplied was wrongly printed, and not the entire team’s kit as alleged on social media.

"Out of 24 jerseys, one was printed wrongly, which was an accidental mistake on the part of the supplier.

"We deeply regret the error and promise to be more vigilant in the future when it comes to matters such as these and promise that this mistake will not happen again,” PBA secretary Tan Tiang Seng said in a statement.

Criticism was heavy, coming just days after another flag fiasco involving the Malaysian flag last Saturday.

The letter of apology dated yesterday was sent to the Perak Youth and Sports Committee Chairman Howard Lee.

In a separate statement, the state committee acknowledged the PBA letter of explanation and that the error was unintended.

A picture of the Perak player wearing the number 10 jersey during the opening ceremony of the National Under-15 Basketball Championship had spread on social media. ― Picture courtesy of the PBA

"We've been told only one jersey was affected after getting in touch with the team coach. They have apologised and promised to be more careful in the future.

"Despite that, we will be sending them a show-cause letter so they can provide us with a formal explanation. We hope this will be a lesson to all to be more careful in the future,” it said.

Malaysians vented their anger and disappointment on social media after a large screen showed the wrong flag for the national team during the opening ceremony of the 28th MABA Milo Lum Mun Chak Cup last Saturday.

Some claimed it was done on purpose while others denounced it as an act of treason.

The flag featured a five-pointed star and 10 red-and-white stripes instead of the 14-pointed star and 14-red-and-white stripes for the Jalur Gemilang.

The Malaysian Basketball Association (MABA) has since apologised and attributed the blunder to a genuine mistake, adding that it has terminated the services of the contractor who supplied the digital image.

Police are investigating the case.