Oops! England listed as part of Africa in blunder

COMMONWEALTH Games officials were left red-faced after listing England as an African country – with a population of just two million.

The blunder saw England mixed up with Gambia in the official programme for the event, which started in Australia yesterday.

The west African nation only rejoined the Commonwealth last month after pulling out in 2013.

In the souvenir guide, England’s capital is listed as Banjul, not London, despite the latter being the location of Buckingham Palace, official headquarters of the Queen, who heads the Commonwealth. The glossy 130-page programme being sold for £5.50 profiles all 71 countries taking part and includes an official welcome from Her Majesty.

A Games volunteer who spotted the gaffe said: “It’s a pretty embarrassing clanger.

“This is the official programme that thousands of people will buy as a keepsake and the details on the country that created the Commonwealth are wrong.”

Hours before Prince Charles was set to open the Games on the Gold Coast yesterday, event chief executive Mark Peters described the mistake as an “overprint” as organisers rushed to accommodate Gambia’s re-inclusion just weeks ago.

He added: “Sometimes you make mistakes and we cop it. We’re doing a special reprint.”

In a statement, the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Corporation said: “The formatting error occurred when Gambia was reinstated back into the Commonwealth and, subsequently, the Games only a few weeks ago.

“With the late addition and update to the programme, the page required re-formatting at the last minute at the printers, causing the error.”