Rio Olympics opening ceremony’s Parade of Nations order by Brazil’s Portuguese - a $1 billion headache

AN Olympic partner has a $1.2 billion headache after the Rio 2016 opening ceremony didn’t play out the way they wanted it to.

Michael Phelps of the US carries the flag during the Opening Ceremony of Rio 2016.

IF you were watching the Rio Olympics opening ceremony in Australia, or any other English-speaking country, you may have been scratching your head and asking this question: Why did the teams come out in the wrong order?

Answer: It wasn’t the ‘wrong’ order – they came out in alphabetical order according to the native language of Brazil, using Portuguese names/spelling to determine who went where in the 207-team line-up. International Olympic Committee rules require that the opening ceremony’s official language is that of the host country.

There were a few special exceptions. Greece always marches first, as the country that founded the Olympics. Brazil went last as the host nation, while the Refugee Olympic Team went second-last, by the decision of Brazil’s Games organisers.

Anna Meares carries the flag of Australia during the opening ceremony.

Barring that, the list had some noticeable differences to what English audiences might have expected, had they not been aware of Brazil’s right to order the teams by Portuguese.

South Africa (África do Sul) and Germany (Alemanha) were placed in the top five, while the United States (Estados Unidos da América) were much higher in the list than by English, coming in 70th.

Australia was 15th, though any unawares watchers might have been bemused by the earlier marches of the Independent Olympic Athletes and Saudi Arabia.

Timo Boll leads out Germany ... and Andorra.

The issue reportedly caused some tension in America, where 40 million people watched the London 2012 opening ceremony.

The New York Timesreported that official US broadcaster “NBC has had discussions with the International Olympic Committee hoping to alter the closely watched Parade of Nations so that United States athletes would appear late in the ceremony. According to the network’s proposal, if they were to enter later, viewers would remain tuned in for a program of several hours.”

NBC had reason to be bullish with the IOC. From the Washington Post: “In 2011, NBC won the right to broadcast all of the Olympic Games from 2014 through 2020 at a cost of $4.38 billion. This year’s Rio Olympics alone will cost the network $1.23 billion. Three years later, the network re-upped with the International Olympic Committee through 2032 for the eye-popping amount of $7.65 billion.”

However, NBC’s request to have the US march later was knocked back. The network denied the specific charge that it wanted “English spelling” used.

The USA's Michael Phelps carries the flag during the opening ceremony of Rio 2016.

As it turned out, the USA was wedged between Micronesia and Estonia. Some viewers weren’t happy with the treatment of the Micronesian team by broadcasters:

"We are totally not going to disrespect Micronesia because USA IS TOTALLY RIGHT BEHIND THEM. SEE AMERICA? IT'S AMERICA. AMERICA. #Olympics

— ThoughtsFromTheBooth (@booththoughts) August 6, 2016

I love America, but Matt Lauer did not have to diss Micronesia like that. #ParadeofNations

— #FreeMilo (@TBoges2010) August 6, 2016

We're not going to overlook Micronesia, they'll have their moment
*Immediately starts talking about America*

— Drine (@Sandrineeeee_) August 6, 2016

Here is the full order of countries by Portuguese spelling:

1 Greece (GRE)Grécia

2 Afghanistan (AFG)Afeganistão

3 South Africa (RSA)África do Sul

4 Albania (ALB)Albânia

5 Germany (GER)Alemanha

6 Andorra (AND)Andorra

7 Angola (ANG)Angola

8 Antigua and Barbuda (ANT)Antígua e Barbuda

9 Saudi Arabia (KSA)Arábia Saudita

10 Algeria (ALG)Argélia

11 Argentina (ARG)Argentina

12 Armenia (ARM)Armênia

13 Aruba (ARU)Aruba

14 Independent Olympic Athletes (IOA)Atletas Olímpicos Independentes

15 Australia (AUS)Austrália

16 Austria (AUT)Áustria

17 Azerbaijan (AZE)Azerbaijão

18 Bahamas (BAH)Bahamas

19 Bangladesh (BAN)Bangladesh

20 Barbados (BAR)Barbados

21 Bahrain (BRN)Bareine

22 Belarus (BLR)Belarus

23 Belgium (BEL)Bélgica

24 Belize (BIZ)Belize

25 Benin (BEN)Benim

26 Bermuda (BER)Bermuda

27 Bolivia (BOL)Bolívia

28 Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH)Bósnia e Herzegovina

29 Botswana (BOT)Botsuana

30 Brunei Darussalam (BRU)Brunei Darussalam

31 Bulgaria (BUL)Bulgária

32 Burkina Faso (BUR)Burkina Faso

33 Burundi (BDI)Burundi

34 Bhutan (BHU)Butão

35 Cape Verde (CPV)Cabo Verde

36 Cameroon (CMR)Camarões

37 Cambodia (CAM)Camboja

38 Canada (CAN)Canadá

39 Qatar (QAT)Catar

40 Kazakhstan (KAZ)Cazaquistão

41 Cayman Islands (CAY)Ilhas Cayman

42 Central African Republic (CAF)República Centroafricana

43 Chad (CHA)Chade

44 Chile (CHI)Chile

45 People’s Republic of China (CHN)República Popular da China

46 Cyprus (CYP)Chipre

47 Colombia (COL)Colômbia

48 Comoros (COM)Comores

49 Congo (CGO)Congo

50 Democratic Republic of the Congo (COD)República Democrática do Congo

51 Cook Islands (COK)Ilhas Cook

52 Republic of Korea (KOR)República da Coreia

53 Côte d’Ivoire (CIV)Costa do Marfim

54 Costa Rica (CRC)Costa Rica

55 Croatia (CRO)Croácia

56 Cuba (CUB)Cuba

57 Denmark (DEN)Dinamarca

58 Djibouti (DJI)Djibuti

59 Dominica (DMA)Dominica

60 Dominican Republic (DOM)República Dominicana

61 Egypt (EGY)Egito

62 El Salvador (ESA)El Salvador

63 United Arab Emirates (UAE)Emirados Árabes Unidos

64 Ecuador (ECU)Equador

65 Eritrea (ERI)Eritreia

66 Slovakia (SVK)Eslováquia

67 Slovenia (SLO)Eslovênia

68 Spain (ESP)Espanha

69 Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)Estados Federados da Micronésia

70 United States of America (USA)Estados Unidos da América

71 Estonia (EST)Estônia

72 Ethiopia (ETH)Etiópia

73 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD)Ex-República Iugoslava da Macedônia

74 Fiji (FIJ)Fiji

75 Philippines (PHI)Filipinas

76 Finland (FIN)Finlândia

77 France (FRA)França

78 Gabon (GAB)Gabão

79 Gambia (GAM)Gâmbia

80 Ghana (GHA)Gana

81 Georgia (GEO)Geórgia

82 Great Britain (GBR)Grã-Bretanha

83 Grenada (GRN)Granada

84 Guam (GUM)Guam

85 Guatemala (GUA)Guatemala

86 Guyana (GUY)Guiana

87 Guinea (GUI)Guiné

88 Equatorial Guinea (GEQ)Guiné Equatorial

89 Guinea-Bissau (GBS)Guiné-Bissau

90 Haiti (HAI)Haiti

91 Honduras (HON)Honduras

92 Hong Kong, China (HKG)Hong Kong, China

93 Hungary (HUN)Hungria

94 Yemen (YEM)Iêmen

95 India (IND)Índia

96 Indonesia (INA)Indonésia

97 Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI)República Islâmica do Irã

98 Iraq (IRQ)Iraque

99 Ireland (IRL)Irlanda

100 Iceland (ISL)Islândia

101 Israel (ISR)Israel

102 Italy (ITA)Itália

103 Jamaica (JAM)Jamaica

104 Japan (JPN)Japão

105 Jordan (JOR)Jordânia

106 Kiribati (KIR)Kiribati

107 Kosovo (KOS)Kosovo

108 Lao People’s Democratic Republic (LAO)República Popular Democrática do Laos

109 Lesotho (LES)Lesoto

110 Latvia (LAT)Letônia

111 Lebanon (LIB)Líbano

112 Liberia (LBR)Libéria

113 Libya (LBA)Líbia

114 Liechtenstein (LIE)Liechtenstein

115 Lithuania (LTU)Lituânia

116 Luxembourg (LUX)Luxemburgo

117 Madagascar (MAD)Madagascar

118 Malaysia (MAS)Malásia

119 Malawi (MAW)Maláui

120 Maldives (MDV)Maldivas

121 Mali (MLI)Mali

122 Malta (MLT)Malta

123 Marshall Islands (MHL)Ilhas Marshall

124 Morocco (MAR)Marrocos

125 Mauritius (MRI)Maurício

126 Mauritania (MTN)Mauritânia

127 Mexico (MEX)México

128 Mozambique (MOZ)Moçambique

129 Republic of Moldova (MDA)República da Moldova

130 Monaco (MON)Mônaco

131 Mongolia (MGL)Mongólia

132 Montenegro (MNE)Montenegro

133 Myanmar (MYA)Myanmar

134 Namibia (NAM)Namíbia

135 Nauru (NRU)Nauru

136 Nepal (NEP)Nepal

137 Nicaragua (NCA)Nicarágua

139 Nigeria (NGR)Nigéria

140 Norway (NOR)Noruega

141 New Zealand (NZL)Nova Zelândia

142 Oman (OMA)Omã

143 Netherlands (NED)Países Baixos

144 Palau (PLW)Palau

145 Palestine (PLE)Palestina

146 Panama (PAN)Panamá

147 Papua New Guinea (PNG)Papua Nova Guiné

148 Pakistan (PAK)Paquistão

149 Paraguay (PAR)Paraguai

150 Peru (PER)Peru

151 Poland (POL)Polônia

152 Puerto Rico (PUR)Porto Rico

153 Portugal (POR)Portugal

154 Kenya (KEN)Quênia

155 Kyrgyzstan (KGZ)Quirguistão

156 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (PRK)República Popular Democrática da Coreia

157 Romania (ROU)Romênia

158 Rwanda (RWA)Ruanda

159 Russian Federation (RUS)Federação da Rússia

160 Solomon Islands (SOL)Ilhas Salomão

161 Samoa (SAM)Samoa

162 American Samoa (ASA)Samoa Americana

163 San Marino (SMR)San Marino

164 Saint Lucia (LCA)Santa Lúcia

165 Saint Kitts and Nevis (SKN)São Cristóvão e Névis

166 São Tomé and Príncipe (STP)São Tomé e Príncipe

167 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (VIN)São Vicente e Granadinas

168 Seychelles (SEY)Seicheles

169 Senegal (SEN)Senegal

170 Sierra Leone (SLE)Serra Leoa

171 Serbia (SRB)Sérvia

172 Singapore (SIN)Singapura

173 Syrian Arab Republic (SYR)República Árabe da Síria

174 Somalia (SOM)Somália

175 Sri Lanka (SRI)Sri Lanka

176 Swaziland (SWZ)Suazilândia

177 Sudan (SUD)Sudão

178 South Sudan (SSD)Sudão do Sul

179 Sweden (SWE)Suécia

180 Switzerland (SUI)Suíça

181 Suriname (SUR)Suriname

182 Tajikistan (TJK)Tadjiquistão

183 Thailand (THA)Tailândia

184 Chinese Taipei (TPE)Taipé Chinesa

185 United Republic of Tanzania (TAN)República Unida da Tanzânia

186 Czech Republic (CZE)República Tcheca

187 Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (TLS)República Democrática de Timor-Leste

188 Togo (TOG)Togo

189 Tonga (TGA)Tonga

190 Trinidad and Tobago (TTO)Trinidad e Tobago

191 Tunisia (TUN)Tunísia

192 Turkmenistan (TKM)Turcomenistão

193 Turkey (TUR)Turquia

194 Tuvalu (TUV)Tuvalu

195 Ukraine (UKR)Ucrânia

196 Uganda (UGA)Uganda

197 Uruguay (URU)Uruguai

198 Uzbekistan (UZB)Uzbequistão

199 Vanuatu (VAN)Vanuatu

200 Venezuela (VEN)Venezuela

201 Vietnam (VIE)VietnãVũ

202 Virgin Islands, US (ISV)Ilhas Virgens Americanas

203 British Virgin Islands (IVB)Ilhas Virgens Britânicas

204 Zambia (ZAM)Zâmbia

205 Zimbabwe (ZIM) Zimbábue

206 Refugee Olympic Team (ROT)

207 Brazil (BRA) Brasil