Olympic Badminton 2012 Scandal: Match-Fixing Must Result in New Tournament Setup

Badminton generally isn't one of the most talked about sports on the Olympic program, but thanks to a match-fixing scandal, that has certainly changed. Punishments have been levied, but the most important thing that should come of this situation is a change to the tournament format.

According to Rob Harris of NBCOlympics.com, four sets of women's doubles teams were charged with throwing matches in an attempt to get an easier draw in the next round of play. All eight women were disqualified from the Olympic Games and will no longer have an opportunity to medal.

One of the disqualified pairs is Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang of China, who are the defending world champions and the ones accused of starting the entire match-fixing scandal. Along with them, South Korean teams of Jyung Kyun Eun and Kim Ha Na, as well as Ha Jung Eun and Kim Min Jung were expelled. Finally, Indonesia's Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii were disqualified too.

The International Olympic Committee did the right thing since the teams essentially made a mockery of the sport, but the real issue here is the setup of the badminton tournament. Rather than just seeding teams after group play and having the top qualifying team play the worst team and so forth, there is a round robin that creates easier matchups in the event of a loss.

It's truly unfathomable to think that losing a match could lead to an easier road to a medal, but that is precisely how things work in badminton. This isn't the first time that a Chinese team has been accused of doing this in international play, according to Harris, so this is obviously an epidemic that must be stopped in the very near future.

Doing something as drastic as removing athletes from the Olympics is a good statement to make, but if this type of format remains intact, then teams will find more effective and subtle ways to skirt the system. The only way to ensure that such egregious match fixing is no longer an issue is to instate a more logical tournament.

Not only should the Olympics be about showcasing the best athletes in the world, but they should also be playing in the best tournament. Any tournament that, for all intents and purposes, rewards losing, however, can't be considered the best.

The disqualified teams should be chastised for compromising the integrity of the Olympics, but I'm not sure any of us could say with confidence that we wouldn't try something similar if put in the same position. These four teams saw a loophole in an already backwards system and tried to exploit it in order to win an Olympic medal.

It was wrong, and they shouldn't have done it, but the IOC should have expected it to some degree because it dangled the proverbial carrot in front of the players' faces. Badminton clearly has some problems that need to be solved, and instead of pointing a finger at the players, those in charge should look in the mirror.

There is no room for unethical play in the Olympics, but there is no room for stupid rules either.

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