Badminton

[Fox in the North]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/19072677

If this is true, it's really disappointing

[Jaspa]

Anyone who pays to watch Badminton deserves it

Hate that 'Sport'

Nahh, its a shame if youve had to pay for that, the Players/Teams should have to compensate the fans in some way if possible (?)

[Asha]

This is the problem with having pre-drawn knock-out rounds so teams know who they're going to play if they go through. I know that logistically it would be a bit difficult to do it the other way and conduct the draw after the completion of the knockout round, but at least you would avoid this situation.

Would it be any different in a football World Cup if say, both France and England were already through in a group and playing each other in the third game, with the knowledge that the winner would play Spain, and the runner-up play someone shit like the Czech Republic?

[Leicfox]

Disgrace.

[ithuriel]

Make them replay those matches or disqualify them would be my options.

[Northants Fox 3]

Breaking News is that the players involved have been disqualified....

[Corky]

Yes, been thrown out.

[Haydos]

Serves them right......

.....

[Leicfox]

I think they might get re-instated.

I know it's a disgrace and people have paid good money to watch the worlds best perform to their best but if organised better it would never of happened.

Can we actually blame the athletes for wanting an easier route to the final when the stakes are so high ?

[Trav Le Bleu]

What a shuttlecock-up!

[ithuriel]

I think they might get re-instated.

I know it's a disgrace and people have paid good money to watch the worlds best perform to their best but if organised better it would never of happened.

Can we actually blame the athletes for wanting an easier route to the final when the stakes are so high ?

Would be very surprised to see this decision being reversed.

The athletes were not living up to what the olympics are supposed to be about in terms of sportsmanship and trying your utmost, to constantly just hit the net and play so badly on purpose is poor sportsmanship and as a competing athlete you can not blame the organisers for putting in a deliberately shoddy display.

[Trav Le Bleu]

Would be very surprised to see this decision being reversed.

The athletes were not living up to what the olympics are supposed to be about in terms of sportsmanship and trying your utmost, to constantly just hit the net and play so badly on purpose is poor sportsmanship and as a competing athlete you can not blame the organisers for putting in a deliberately shoddy display.

I dunno - I'm thinking they might come out with, "Our team told us to do it." Personally I would keep the decision the same even so as a punishment to the management.

[nothin2seehere]

I'm pretty into Badminton atm and whilst I didn't watch it live, the replays were outrageous. I'm glad they were disqualified - the way they were playing I reckon I could have beaten them

[MooseBreath]

Harsh on the players whose actions were entirely understandable. The competition was poorly designed. It should be the organisers taking the rap for this.

[Haydos]

Harsh on the players whose actions were entirely understandable. The competition was poorly designed. It should be the organisers taking the rap for this.

It has been criticised but that's the format. Get on with it. They were warned that what they were doing was wrong and they knew it. Their own fault.

[Jordan]

What happened in the badminton was an absolute disgrace. It's not just that the teams tried to throw games, which is a massive insult to not only the competition, but to the Olympics and to sport itself--It's that the teams knew they faced severe consequences if they were to continue throwing their respective games, but insisted on doing so with some of the most blatant sandbagging you'll ever see. At least make it look legitimate!

This is the problem with having pre-drawn knock-out rounds so teams know who they're going to play if they go through. I know that logistically it would be a bit difficult to do it the other way and conduct the draw after the completion of the knockout round, but at least you would avoid this situation.

Would it be any different in a football World Cup if say, both France and England were already through in a group and playing each other in the third game, with the knowledge that the winner would play Spain, and the runner-up play someone shit like the Czech Republic?

If either of those teams blew the game without an Oscar-winning acting job, they'd be disgraced worldwide.

This whole thing reminds me of the 1998 Tiger Cup in Asia, where Indonesia and Thailand were already through to the group stage before they met to finish that round.

For anybody that doesn't know the story: both teams knew the winner of the group would play Vietnam in the semifinal and the runner-up would play Singapore. Both teams tried to lose the match at the end because not only did they consider Singapore the weaker team, but neither team wanted the inconveniece of travelling to play Singapore, also.

After Thailand conceded an easy goal in stoppage time to tie the score at 2-2, Indonesia passed the ball around their own box, where one of their defenders then blasted it past his own keeper to score a last-minute own goal winner for Thailand . What makes the story even better was that both teams lost their respective semifinals, the "weaker" Singaporean side wound up winning the title, and the Indonesian defender that scored the "winner" vs. Thailand was banned from football for life.

Edit: I remember watching video of that in the "world report" section of a Premier League highlights show in 1998 and I'm glad to see