The chairman of the organising committee, the former Queensland premier Peter Beattie, admitted: “We got that wrong.”Annastacia Palaszczuk said the organisers of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games closing ceremony should “hang their head in shame” for not giving athletes the starring role. Peter Beattie (@SmartState1) Closing Ceremony; we wanted athletes to be part of and enjoy the Closing Ceremony. 7CommGames (@7CommGames) The organisers of the closing ceremony decided to break with tradition and arranged for the athletes to enter the stadium before the start of the ceremony. And dare I say it a little self-indulgent.”Queensland’s Commonwealth Games minister, Kate Jones, praised Beattie for taking responsibility but said many people felt let down. Apparently not pic.twitter.com/nWaCMD2Kd1Even Barnaby Joyce joined the criticism on social media, saying: “Someone has got to answer for that.”Barnaby Joyce (@Barnaby_Joyce) Yeah just watched closing ceremony and sorry someone has got to answer for that.

Source: The Guardian April 15, 2018 21:50 UTC