Olympic Badminton Scandal: 8 Players Disqualified For Match Fixing

World Badminton Federation Confirms 8 Players Suspended

Before the 2012 Olympics in London began, few would have suspected that there would be a significant scandal in the badminton competition. Now four teams have been suspended and accused of match-fixing.

Paul Kelso of the Telegraph initially reported that the Badminton World Federation would be suspending eight players from China, Indonesia and South Korea. Later on Wednesday, Kelso received confirmation from the BWF that those players would indeed be suspended from the Olympics for attempting to lose early matches to get better draws in the elimination rounds.

These suspended pairs include world champions Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang of China. BBC News reported that when Yu was initially asked about her poor performance in the opening round, she claimed to be saving her best play for the gold medal rounds.

"We've already qualified, so why would we waste energy? It's not necessary to go out hard again when the knockout rounds are tomorrow."

China's Olympic sports delegation has already begun investigating the allegations of their players having thrown their matches. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that South Korea and Indonesia are appealing their disqualification. The countries filed their appeal immediately after the disqualifications were handed down. Ruling on these appeals is expected on Wednesday.

Stick with SB Nation for more on the 2012 Summer Olympics, and this StoryStream as the badminton scandal unfolds.

8 Badminton Players Reportedly Disqualified For Match-Fixing

Late Tuesday night on the East Coast, news broke that multiple teams in the women's badminton tournament at the Summer Olympics were facing discipline after being accused of throwing matches. Teams from China, Indonesia and South Korea were seemingly surrendering points on purpose, hoping to lose in order to gain a better draw in the elimination round.

At the time, the Badminton World Federation announced that eight women were charged 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," but the punishments were not yet known. Until Wednesday. According to the Daily Telegraph's Paul Kelso, all eight players have been disqualified from the Olympics for match fixing.

The players, Chinese world champions Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang, Greysia Poli and Meiliana Jauhari of Indonesia and two South Korean pairs, Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na, and Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min Jung, have been charged with attempting to throw their matches in an attempt to secure a favourable quarter-final draw.

You can watch video of both China's Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli and South Korean's Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na apparently trying to throw their women's doubles match here at NBC Olympics.

Stick with SB Nation for more on the 2012 Summer Olympics, and this StoryStream as the badminton scandal unfolds.

Olympic Badminton Teams Face Discipline After Attempting To Throw Matches

The women's badminton tournament descended into accusations and finger-pointing over who started throwing matches on Tuesday.