An official threatens Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari of Indonesia and Jung Eun Ha and Min Jung Kim of Korea with a 'black card' disqualification in their Women's Doubles Badminton on Day 4 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Wembley Arena on July 31, 2012. (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LONDON -- Four badminton doubles teams were disqualified Wednesday from the Olympic women's doubles competition
after trying to lose matches to receive a more favorable place in the
tournament.
PHOTOS | 2012 London Olympics: Week 1
The eight players were punished after an investigation involving two teams from South Korea and one each from China and Indonesia.
Badminton authorities rejected South Korea's appeal of its disqualification. Indonesia appealed and then later withdrew its challenge, and China accepted the decision.
The Badminton World Federation accused the teams of "not using one's best efforts to win a match" and "conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport" in matches Tuesday night.
(Rob Harris, Associated Press)