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Updated at 7:42 a.m., Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Soccer: Czechs apologize to Lithuania for gaff

Associated Press

PRAGUE, Czech Republic — The Latvian flag was in the game program along with a photo of the Latvian national soccer team. Before the match, Czech organizers played Latvia's national anthem.

However, the Czech Republic was facing Lithuania last night, not Latvia.

The Czech Republic's soccer federation apologized today to its Lithuanian counterpart and to the Lithuanian embassy in Prague. The federation said in a statement that the mistakes were inexcusable and measures will be taken not to repeat them in the future.

Federation spokesman Vaclav Tichy took responsibility and resigned from his post. His deputy was fired and another federation official fined, the statement said.

The Czech Republic, preparing for next month's European Championship, won 2-0.