It was the first big burp for the London Olympics.
Eight badminton players were disqualified from competition for playing poorly during early matches, allegedly in an effort to improve their ultimate medal chances in the quarterfinals lineup.
Officials believed the top-seeded pair from China, two pairs from South Korea, and one from Indonesia hoped to move into the next round of competition against lesser opponents by losing their first match.
The Chinese badminton coach, Li Yongbo, acknowledged the lack of effort. Said Li: "It's me to blame."
"We didn't take each competition seriously and follow the Olympic spirit of 'higher, faster and stronger' as professional athletes," said Li on Chinese television.
One of the disqualified athletes went further. Chinese player Wang Xiaoli, part of a world champion team and an Olympic gold-medal favorite, said "I will prove myself in future games. I pledge to play to my full strength, in each competition, to build a new image of us among the audience in the future."
The gray area in sport of giving less than a 100 percent effort in competition as a strategy move has long been questioned in American athletics.
In the National Basketball Association, seven teams finishing at the bottom of the end-of-year standings are given the opportunity to participate in a lottery, giving them preferential access to the best college players ready to enter the professional league. If a team is near the end of its season, and hovering between seventh worst and eighth worst, does that team play with less than its best effort, knowing if they are eighth, there is no possibility of a lottery pick?
In Major League Baseball, if a team near the end of the season can alter its playoff matchup - the team it will face, or not face - by playing with less than its best effort in its last few games, should that team be allowed to do so?
Beyond the ethical questions, what's to be said for the fans that continue to support these teams? Is it fair to fans, and families, that pay for expensive tickets and expensive concession stand items at games late in the season, only to see the team they support deliberately play a poor game?
What do you think? Is cheating okay as a strategy move? Should we even call it cheating? Or should athletes and coaches approach every game, every match, with the sole intent to win, and let the chips fall where they may around them.
Tell us in your comments. Then vote in the poll below.
There appears to be a very thin line between cheating and strategy. Everyone must always be held to the same standards of excellence. Teams should always put in their best efforts at every event if it is the Olympic rule that 'higher, faster and stronger' applies for all their games, no holding back.
In NFL football, it is very common for teams to sit their star players at the end of the season to avoid injury before the playoffs, even when the opponent is still in contention to make the playoffs. Not letting your stars play against a playoff contender is not much different from intentionally losing the game. In National League pro baseball, it is very common for under performing teams to trade away their star players in the second half of the season to save salary money or to develop young talent for future seasons. This makes their teams much less competitive and often pretty boring for season ticket holders. Each sport needs to define what is acceptable in these situations and think about changing the rules to give teams more incentive to make these games interesting to spectators.
If it is a rule or expectation based upon a guideline that athletes are supposed to always give their best then athletes should obey those expectations or risk being penalized or expelled. But this standard should apply all the time. It seems that it is acceptable in the Olympics to hold back from doing your best as long as you do not deliberately through a game. But I think there is some ambiguity in the meaning of 'higher, faster and stronger' that needs to be clarified by the Olympic committee.
I'm not calling them cheaters. The eight players from three different countries thought it was OK to do what they did. Apparently their coaches did too. What they failed to understand is what the spirit of the games is about. It's about respect and honor. Apparently they have not grasped what it means show respect and honor to the Olympics and the rest of the world. Hopefully there won't be any children out there who want to be just like the disqualified badminton players when they grow up.
Otherwise if your not losing to be competitive, by definition you are cheating. In the Olympic games, those that won did not compete to face easier opponents. That's cheating by those terms! Ridiculous. The tournament rules are flawed, not the competitors.