We've certainly had our share of controversy in these Olympics, haven't we? (And I'm not talking about the idiots who keep complaining about the tape delay. You already know my feelings on that.) In just the first week of the Games alone, we've had Jordyn Wieber not qualify for the women's gymnastics all-around because of the FIG's two-per-country rule, Japan going from fourth to second in the men's team final because they protested and got a score changed, a 16-year-old Chinese swimmer suspected of doping, and a boxing referee who got kicked out of the Games because he doesn't know what a standing eight count is.
But that pales in comparison to what happened in badminton. Yes, badminton. This year, badminton went from a straight elimination tournament to a preliminary round with pool play. The No. 2 Chinese team lost its last pool play match to Denmark, which meant it finished second in its pool and dropped to the same side of the bracket as the other Chinese team. However, that Chinese team hadn't played yet, so they decided to tank their match so that they would aviod their teammates until the final. The Korean team they were playing didn't want to face the other Chinese team, either, so they tried to tank it too.
The match was embarrassing. The Chinese players looked like that fourth person who you pull into your backyard game that has no interest in actually playing but says "OK" because you need a fourth. Every serve they hit went directly into the bottom of the net. After the Koreans figured it out, they started doing the exact same thing. The officials aren't stupid, so they came out and told both teams to actually try. Instead, they just made it look like they were trying, hitting the birdie as hard as they could so it would go waaaaaaaaaaay long.
Since the Chinese were better at trying to lose than the Koreans, that meant the other Korean team would have to play them in the quarterfinals if they won. Well, they didn't want that, and since they both tried to lose in the other match, this Korean team and its Indonesian opponents did the same thing. This match took place about an hour later, so everybody already knew what went down in the other match, and the officials immediately stopped play when they figured out (pretty early) what they were doing. Both teams got warnings, then continued intentionally sucking, so the officials stopped the match and DQ'ed them both. Both teams promised to stop, were allowed to continue, and made it look like they were trying for the rest of the match.
Not surprisingly, the Chinese coach told his team to do it. Other players said that the Chinese do that sort of thing all the time and never get called out on it. There were a total of 20 walk-overs when two Chinese teams were supposed to play each other last year. More relevantly, though, if the two Chinese teams had to play each other, they couldn't both medal. Since China's sole goal in any Olympics is to win more medals than the United States, and badminton is one of the sports China's really good at, that was unacceptable.
Well, intentionally trying to lose in the Olympics is even more unacceptable. (And if you're going to tank a match, at least do a better job of making it look like you're trying.) Needless to say, the Badminton World Federation and IOC weren't happy. All eight players were rightfully disqualified (they've since been stripped of their credentials and sent home), and teams from Russia, Canada, Australia and South Africa were placed in the quarterfinals instead. (Either the Canadians or Russians are going to medal.) The players used a weak excuse of blaming the new format, but what they did is inexcusable. (Maybe the BWF can adjust the schedule so that the good teams don't play each other in the final pool play match, which is probably what led to this problem.)
On ESPN.com, Jim Caple tried to somewhat defend it by comparing it to an NFL team resting its starters in Week 17 when a playoff berth is already clinched, but they're not even close to the same thing. When that happens in the NFL, the players in the game, even if they aren't the starters, are at least still trying (except for the NFC in this year's Pro Bowl). They still respect the integrity of the game. Furthermore, this is the Olympics. How many thousands of athletes around the world would give anything to be an Olympian? What these athletes did disrespected the fans, disrespect their sport (which is really only popular in East Asia and has now been reduced to a laughingstock) and disrespected the Olympics.
The BWF knows that it's been made to look like a joke. For a sport that relies on the Olympics for exposure, this could've been a devastating blow. Swift action was needed here. And it was taken. Hopefully the point has now gotten across. Even other Chinese and Korean players agreed with the disqualifications.
However, there might also be a silver lining. At least people are talking about badminton, a sport that's nothing like what people play in their backyards with those cheap $30 sets you can buy in Target. Who would've seen that coming? So, in a way, maybe these four teams did their sport a favor. Oh, badminton.
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