In Which We Spend Our Time Talking About Badminton

As you can tell, the selection and quality of photos has gone down since I started using open-source photos. Photo credit: Hervé Boulben

As you could probably tell from my previous entry about Olympic gymnasts last week, I don’t really get into the Olympics. Granted, it’s nice to have fresh content on ESPN.com every 15 minutes, but aside from checking the homepage for big updates, I haven’t watched a single second of the Olympics. Oh, and I used an app to learn that my body type matches that of a female Olympic rower. Score!

However, I understand that a lot of people really get into the Games, and so when my friend Bryce notified me of the badminton controversy that happened today, I was eager to bring it up as a conversation piece on the blog.

The situation was that a few female Olympic badminton teams intentionally lost their matches so that their subsequent matches would be easier. For this they were disqualified and asked to leave the Olympic campus.

So, the two questions are:

1. Should they have been disqualified?

2. Should the Olympic committee change their rules to allow for this sort of behavior?

The answer to the first question is easy, in my opinion: Yes.

The rules clearly state that players must “use one’s best efforts to win the match” Yet the players didn’t do that,  and sothey should be disqualified. Even if a rule sucks in sports, you have to follow it. There are silly rules in every sport. But you opt into those rules when you play those sports.

I’ve heard some people say that the players were justified in their actions because they were trying to win the tournament. But the rules don’t say, “You must attempt to win the tournament to the best of your ability.” They say “match.” The players blatantly disregarded that message, and so the Olympic committee was correct in disqualifying them.

Should the Olympic committee change the rules (and the badminton tournament structure)? Absolutely. It’s not the place of an organizing body to decide how players should act on the field. It’s like if FIFA, after seeing how beautifully the Spanish national team has played over the last few years, started mandating that all teams must complete at least 95% of their passes or they will be disqualified.

Speaking of soccer, in the final game of the first round-robin round of the World Cup, the two teams playing sometimes know that they don’t have to play hard to advance. Sometimes both teams know they need a tie, so there have been a few times when the teams have just passed the ball around for 90 minutes. FIFA allows this. It’s annoying, and of course the fans aren’t happy (especially when you’re representing your entire country, what does playing for a tie mean to that country). But it’s allowed.

Rather than deciding how players should play badminton, the role of the Olympic committee should be to structure the tournament so that teams aren’t incentivized to lose. I don’t understand why it’s set up so you have an easier path to victory if you lose the first match.

That said, it’s equally bewildering to me that a team would associating losing with increasing their chances of winning. Look at the NFL. Every year, a few teams coast into the playoffs. They rest their starters the final game or two of the season, and more and more we’re seeing those teams lose in the playoffs. They lose their forward momentum, and they lose that priceless time on the field to perfect their game. We even saw the St. Louis Cardinals win the World Series last year after fighting until the very last day of the season. These players are human, and the more you can get them amped up about the game, the better they’re going to play.

So, conclusion: The rule should be changed, but this year those players should be disqualified.

What do you think? Should they have been disqualified? Should the rules/tournament structure change? Would you ever intentionally lose (or tie) when playing a sport, especially if you were representing your country?

13 thoughts on “In Which We Spend Our Time Talking About Badminton”

  1. I didn’t realize Badminton was an Olympic sport still. lol Haha. Ok, well, no I don’t think anything needs changing. However, you raise a point about player ethics. We cannot take away personal accountability. In fact, and I quote Thinking Ethics, “Behavior in Sports is not [and should not] be defined by the authorities.” Do I agree with what happened? No. But should we then change the rules to police this sport and perhaps others? No. Sportsmanship is an intrinsic part of the Olympics. And forcing people to behave is well, almost as detrimental as forcing performance.

    Reply
    • I’m not sure you’re understanding my point–my point is that the current rules allow the Olympic committee to police the sport. I’m saying they should change the rules so that the Olympic committee cannot police the sport.

      I think you just agreed with me without realizing it. 🙂 Do you want to change your stance?

      Reply
      • Well, I may have misread you which is possible. What I was aiming is that the definition is vague and it’s the first time in awhile that a team has gotten caught. Badzine says that this sport has a reputation of unethical behavior specifically by China. So, regardless of an opinion, we first have to evaluate what is being specifically defined as not using best efforts. That’s like saying to an employee we need to see improvement without offering specifics to that end. Technically, I am on the fence and feel badminton is not a real sport.

        Reply
        • So do you agree with yourself or disagree with yourself that the Olympic committee should stop policing how players choose to play badminton? Just for the sake of clarity.

          Reply
        • After reading this chain of comments, the part that I’m most interested in is the idea that badminton isn’t a real sport. Having watched a little of it, I disagree, but more importantly, I’m interested in where you draw the line for what does and doesn’t qualify as a real sport. In my opinion, olympic badminton most closely compares to tennis and volleyball. Are those two also not real sports in your eyes? If they are, what separates them from badminton?

          Reply
            • Honestly, I don’t even think there’s a debate here. Badminton is clearly a sport. I think we could entertain the notion that Olympic horseback riding or Nascar aren’t sports, since they’re entirely reliant on another vehicle/creature, but I feel like the Nascar debate has been had so many times. What do you think? Worth its own entry? Does it really matter for us to define “sport.”

              Reply
        • Even though this entry kind of lost me when I read the word ‘badminton,’ I powered through, and agree with the conclusion that they should have been disqualified, and the rules should be changed so that players are to perform to their best ability instead of being able to throw a game in an attempt to win the entire tournament. I haven’t watched any of the badminton matches (I only watch men’s swimming and women’s gymnastics), from what I understand, they can be pretty intense and highly entertaining.

          I’m not going to say that badminton isn’t a ‘real’ sport, as I recall it being just as challenging as volleyball and tennis when forced to play those sports in grade school gym class. In fact, the whole hitting what is basically a bouncy ball wearing a dress might have made it even more challenging. Just like any other Olympic event, the athletes who play badminton should be held to the same standards, as isn’t the whole point of the games to showcase and highlight the best of the best from each country?

          Reply
  2. From what I understand the Chinese team tanked to set up the bracket so they would not have to face the other Chinese team until the finals. They just wanted their country to do as well as possible.

    Reply
    • Hmm…that might be misinformation, Gabby, because I’m pretty sure that BOTH Chinese teams tanked on purpose.

      Reply
  3. It could be misinformation, because I am obviously not on the Chinese team that tanked, but I did read it at a fairly reputable site, cbsnews.com

    Reply

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