The sports minister in Jersey Island, an independent territory located in the English Channel, missed the handover of the Dance World Cup because he flew to Budapest, Hungary, instead of Bucharest, Romania.

Jersey will host the 2016 dance competition and the island’s sports minister Steve Pallett was supposed to come to Romania, the current host, to receive a flag that symbolizes the handover, and hold a speech, according to bbc.com.

He only realized he got to the wrong capital just before his plane landed in Budapest. He said that an employee in the Education, Sport and Culture department made the wrong booking. He apologized for the “schoolboy error”.

It’s not the first time when Bucharest and Budapest get confused. In 2012, some 400 Spanish Athletic Bilbao football supporters instead of buying tickets to Bucharest, where their favorite team was playing the Europa League final, ended up in Budapest. Some of them already had tickets to the game, having “National Arena, Bucharest” written on them.

Famous artists such as Michael Jackson, Iron Maiden, Lenny Kravitz, Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica have also confused Bucharest for Budapest over the years. They caused bewilderment and embarrassing situations when they started their concerts shouting “Hello, Budapest!” although they were in Bucharest.

A Romanian chocolate manufacturer even launched a campaign called “Bucharest not Budapest”, a few years ago (see opening photo).

editor@romania-insider.com