COPENHAGEN — Former Chinese badminton
champion Ye Zhaoying claims she was forced to throw her semi-final at the
Sydney Olympics in 2000 to increase the chances of a gold medal for one of her
compatriots, in an interview broadcast on Saturday by Danish television TV2.
اضافة اعلان
Twenty-two years later, the former world number one,
who won bronze in Australia, says she was pushed by the team management to lose
her match against Gong Zhichao so as not to “tire her too much” ahead of a
final against Danish champion Camilla Martin.
“They asked me to do this. They told me not to let
it look like I was losing on purpose. But at the same time, they wanted me not
to tire Gong Zhichao too much,” Ye alleged on TV2.
“They wanted me to lose in two sets, not in three
sets, so that I wouldn’t tire her out too much.”
“You can go and watch (the match) again. I would
purposely put points out of bounds, stuff like that, or make sure (the
shuttlecock) did not go over the net. I had no choice.”
Ye, however, stopped short of naming individual
coaches or management staff she claims instructed her to lose the match.
“We feel very helpless, because we are alone against
the system,” she said.
Gong duly went on to beat Martin in the final and
win the gold medal.
In a press release, the Badminton World Federation
(BWF) said it “can’t comment on specific details related to this historic
incident” but that measures were in place to combat corruption.
“Accusations of this nature are something we
consider very seriously,” said BWF president Thomas Lund in the statement.
“Match manipulation of any kind is not tolerated in
badminton.”
Lund said the federation needed to remain “vigilant”
in its attempt to keep the sport clean, while encouraging individuals to come
forward through the BWF’s ‘whistleblower’ system.
The interview with the Chinese player was conducted
in Malaga, Spain, where Ye lives in exile with her husband, former Chinese
soccer star Hao Haidong.
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