Andres Leighton / AP Photo
Until this week, Americans generally associated badminton with backyard cookouts and P.E. requirements rather than an international cheating scandal that has given the sport a bad name. The Badminton World Federation secretary issued an apology on the heels of alleged foul play that resulted in eight women being disqualified from the Olympic games, saying the decision was made “for the best interest of all players”. Accusations that four women’s doubles pairs had been deliberately losing their matches prompted an investigation into their behavior and subsequent removal of China’s top-seeded duo and other doubles pairs from the South Korean and Indonesian teams. The head coach of China’s badminton team told Chinese media he was “to blame” for the disqualification of the team’s top-seeded pair.