LONDON (AP) — A sample of reaction from players, coaches and Olympic officials to the disqualification of eight female badminton players for deliberately trying to lose matches at the London Games:
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“Depressing. Who wants to sit through something like that?” — Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London Olympic organizing committee (LOCOG).
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“In tennis, I think it’s totally different. You’ve got to win. No one wants to lose points, no one wants to tank. You do that, you know, in practice, I do it all the time. But never, never, never in competition.” — Serena Williams.
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“Sport is competitive. If you lose the competitive element, then the whole thing becomes a nonsense.” — IOC Vice President Craig Reedie.
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“It’s a bad image for badminton. I’m happy. I know I’m from Indonesia and the ladies doubles are from Indonesia but it’s bad for the sport.”— 2004 Olympic champion and current player Taufik Hidayat.
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“No, we won’t be refunding. You get into all sorts of strange precedents if people aren’t satisfied with what they see.” — LOCOG chief executive Paul Deighton.
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“Clearly, it’s not acceptable. People come along to see some good sport.” — International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams.
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“Choosing to lose a match to ensure the Chinese delegation can win another medal is not likely to be a decision that is up to the two athletes Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli to make. For a pair who have virtually not had a taste of defeat in two years, to swallow a loss on the Olympic stage must be a deeply sorrowful experience, what more to lose in this way, it can be said to be a blemish on their careers. But as athletes, they can only choose to obey for the benefit of the ‘collective interest.'” — an online commentary in the Beijing News about two of the Chinese players.
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“There is definitely going to be a negative impact, especially for the audience. This is definitely not within the Olympic spirit.” — China’s Lin Dan, the No. 2-ranked player in men’s singles.
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“It’s not good when you create a tournament where the players are put in this situation. If you can win a medal by losing, but not by winning, that’s not a good situation to be put in.” — Australia badminton coach Lasse Bundgaard.
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“It was absolutely shocking. The crowds were booing and chanting ‘Off, Off, Off.’ For the future of our sport and the Olympic Games something needs to be done.” — 2008 singles silver medalist Gail Emms.
