LONDON — Eight badminton players at the London Olympics were kicked out of competition Wednesday for trying to lose, a display that drew outrage from fans and organizers who said the women had violated the most sacred stage in sports.
It appeared to be the first mass disqualification in Olympic history.
After an unexpected loss by a powerful Chinese doubles team, the eight women appeared to play poorly on purpose to secure a more favorable position in the next phase of the event. The feeble play was obvious to fans who attended matches Tuesday at Wembley Arena — they chanted, “Off! Off! Off!” — and to incredulous television broadcasters and viewers around the world.
“They're serving fault and fault! They are just hitting the ball into the net!” the BBC's David Mercer said in disbelief. “They are both trying to lose, and that is unforgivable. This is the Olympic Games.”
The eight players included four from South Korea, two from China and two from Indonesia. They were disqualified from competition but allowed to stay at the games — a step lighter than expulsion, the penalty for positive drug tests.
None of the players was made available for interviews. But after the match, Yu Yang of China said they were only trying to save energy for the knockout rounds, which started Wednesday.
Besides dumping serves into the net, both teams made simple errors. The longest rally was only four strokes.
Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London organizing committee, said the badminton scandal was “depressing.”
“Who wants to sit through something like that?” he said.
Condemnation came quickly from some of the other 10,500 athletes, even from those who said they understood the strategy behind the decision to try to lose.
Serena Williams, who blistered a Russian opponent at Wimbledon to reach the Olympic quarterfinals, said she understood trying to throw points in practice, “but never, never, never in competition.”
“This is definitely not within the Olympic spirit,” said Lin Dan of China, the defending men's singles badminton champion.
A player on the Indonesian men's badminton team, Taufik Hidayat, called it a “circus match.”
For the badminton players, the moral question was more complex. The sport was introduced at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, but this is the first time it has included a round-robin format before win-or-go-home tournament play.
The chain of manipulation was set in motion when a team from Denmark unexpectedly beat the second-seeded team in the tournament, from China. By all accounts, that match was decided fairly.
