Move Over Penn State

Dillon Cheverere12 years ago

There’s a new scandal in the works, and it just rocked the foundation of the 2012 Olympic Games.

Eight female badminton players were accused of sandbagging, well really they were tanking games in order to set up more favorable matchups. They have been expelled for not playing the game competitively and not upholding the standards of the Olympic Games.

The Badminton World Federation announced its ruling after investigating two teams from South Korea and one each from China and Indonesia. It punished them for “not using one’s best efforts to win a match” and “conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport” in matches Tuesday night.

My first question is what kind of screwed up system are they working with where your future matchup would be easier if you lose in earlier rounds? I’d seriously look into amending this format. Typically, the goal is to reward a team for winning, at least that’s how most sports do it.

The South Korean team of Ha and Kim took to the court and decided to also try to lose to the Indonesians to avoid meeting Wang and Yu in the quarterfinals. Early on, all four players were warned by the umpire for not trying hard, and Berg returned and produced black cards to disqualify both pairs, but the cards were rescinded on a promise of better play.

In the third game, Berg reappeared to urge them to finish, and the Indonesians ended up being better at losing than Ha and Kim, who fell into the playoff they didn’t want with the world champions.

Those are some sandbagging bitches. All 12 people watching the game became seriously disgruntled at the situation on the court.

Where does this scandal rank on the all-time list? It’s gotta be top three, right?

• [via Fox Sports]