'There has been a problem here' - China Daily

The badminton world scrambles to figure out how to avoid another scandal in the future. Wu Ying and Tang Zhe report in Beijing.

Amid the cacophony of athletes and coaches apologizing after eight shuttlers were disqualified for throwing matches at the London Olympics, another sound cut through.

It was a cry for Olympic organizers to review the badminton format that inadvertently led to the controversy in the first place.

The shockwaves caused by the expulsion of four doubles pairs - including China's top duo of Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang - triggered a discussion as to who was at fault: Those who broke the rules or those who set up a system that encouraged the behavior.

Popular CCTV news commentator Bai Yansong lashed out at the rules.

"Before we attack our own players, we should think about what they had to face," he said during a CCTV Olympics program.

"Should they, knowing they've already got through to the next round, still play with 100 percent of their energy to lock an uncertain group win so that they can meet their compatriots as early as possible and kill each other? Are they stupid; or is something wrong with their minds?

"I think the unreasonable rules are the real absurdity here. Any rules by which someone can benefit from losing should be changed, and we should not pin all the blame on the individuals."

A netizen named Paul echoed Bai and wrote on China Daily's website: "If the existing contest structure leads to better chances by losing a match, the committee should rather re-think their contest structure!"

Popular portal Sina.com conducted an online survey of netizens' reactions to the decision. As of Thursday morning, 46.7 percent of the more than 510,000 who responded supported the decision, saying the Olympic spirit should not be tarnished.

About 26.9 percent disagreed, believing the shuttlers didn't break the rules. And nearly 70,000 participants sympathized with their plight.

"We had injuries, we chose to make use of the rules so we gave up that match and we just wanted to play better in the knockout stage," Chinese shuttler Yu Yang wrote on her Tencent Weibo account, retweeting the BWF's decision. "This is the first time the Olympics introduced the round-robin stages. Do you understand athletes' injuries? Four tough years with all those injuries, and you just disqualified us. You ruthlessly shattered our dreams. That's it - not complicated but unforgivable."

Later, she said she was retiring.

"This is my last game. Goodbye BWF. Goodbye my beloved badminton," she wrote.

Badminton World Federation secretary general Thomas Lund said the event's governing body needs to review its regulations to prevent a reoccurrence.

"The group play has generally been a tremendous success for this tournament - it has created really good matches, and a lot that we've never seen before," Lund said in a news conference announcing the decision.

"But we also have to be clear that there has been a problem here, we have to take that problem very seriously."

The eight shuttlers from China, Korea, and Indonesia were charged by the BWF with "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".

South Korea and Indonesia appealed the disqualification, but the BWF rejected the South Korean appeal. Indonesia withdrew its appeal later, but called for Olympic organizers to review the format.

"Indonesia always greatly honors the Olympic values and spirit, as well as a fair game," Indonesian Sports and Youth Minister Andi Mallarangeng said in a statement posted on the Indonesian Badminton Association website.

"We respect the Badminton World Federation's decision, but we want the BWF to review the competition system they used."

The scandal put the BWF under fire, and some reports said it would jeopardize the sport's place in the Olympics.

Badminton chief Thomas Lund apologized for the scandal but insisted the sport's future in the Games was secure.

"No, I am not embarrassed. I am very very sorry it has happened," he said. "The most important thing is that we have dealt with the issues, and done it in the interests of all the players in the tournament. There has been a very hard consequence for the eight players, but we have 172 players and we must act in the best interests of them all.

"This will not affect the future of badminton as an Olympic sport. We will have fabulous matches in the following days, and medals will be distributed."

But he admitted the BWF should review the format.

"This needs to be a thorough review through our committees and council through next month and year up to Rio 2016," he said.

The Chinese delegation accepted the decision, saying "the behavior of Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli on the court violated the Olympic ideal and the spirit of fair play. The Chinese delegation feels distressed over this matter."

Li Yongbo, China's badminton head coach, apologized for the scandal on Thursday, saying: "It's me to blame."

Li said he and his players had not fully understood the new format.

"We thought we've already gotten through the round-robin stage," he said. "In order to play better in the following stage, we didn't compete with a real positive attitude."

Xinhua and AFP contributed to the story.

Contact the writer at tangzhe@chinadaily.com.cn.

(China Daily 08/03/2012 page12)