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Pan Am Games: Argentina women's basketball team forced into bizarre forfeit

Chase Kell
ADDS REASON WHY ARGENTINA IS OUT OF THE MEDAL ROUND - Argentina's players watch the women's basketball match against the Virgin Islands from the bench, at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2019. Argentina's women's basketball team had to forfeit its match against Colombia at the Pan American Games on Wednesday for wearing the wrong uniform color. Argentina won today’s match against the Virgin Islands but is out of the medal rounds because of the uniform blunder. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
Argentina's women's basketball team had to forfeit its match against Colombia at the Pan American Games on Wednesday for wearing the wrong uniform colour. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

Thanks to a simple mistake, the Argentinian women’s basketball team took a loss at the Pan Am Games in the most heartbreaking fashion.

With Argentina set to play against Colombia on Wednesday, the team took the court for warmups when an issue that many would consider minor had come to light. Wearing their navy blue uniforms, the players quickly realized they were supposed to be wearing their white jerseys for the contest.

Pan Am officials reportedly gave Argentina 15 minutes to switch uniforms or the team would have to forfeit the game. Unable to get the entire team changed in time, Argentina was forced to forfeit and concede defeat to Colombia.

The unfortunate blunder was a costly mistake for a team with hopes of winning the Pan Am tournament. Team leader Hernan Amaya, along with the team’s development director, Karina Rodriquez, promptly resigned after taking responsibility for the unfortunate mishap.

“It’s one of the saddest moments of my career,” Amaya shared with ESPN. “I take full responsibility for what happened.”

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With its hopes of advancing to the medal rounds dashed, Argentina took part in a meaningless group stage game against the Virgin Islands on Thursday. And while Argentina is surely disappointed with the way it lost to Colombia, the team concluded the group stage with a victory, albeit one that was bittersweet.

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