In March 2008, Chinese badminton’s head coach Li Yongbo was quoted in an interview saying that prior to the semi final game at the 2004 Olympic Games, he asked one of his players (Zhou Mi) to throw away the match to let another Chinese player win (Zhang Ning).

Despite years of suspicions of these types of arranged matches, it is but until now that such statement confirms fears of match fixing policy.

The athletes commission of the badminton players calls upon the Badminton World Federation to launch a full investigation into these matters and pledge their unconditional co-operation in finding measures to punish such acts and solve the problem of match- fixing.

It is the position of the Players that all athletes must be free to determine their destiny both on and off the court.

The chairman of the badminton athletes commission (Bobby Milroy) expects immediate action from the BWF and is quoted as saying ““These statements, attributed to Coach Li Yongbo are shocking. Match-fixing is a violation of the Olympic concept of fair play and has no place in the sport of Badminton.”

With China being one of the strongest countries in badminton and the hosts of the Olympic Games in August, the badminton athletes commission look ahead to a resolution guaranteeing fair play in future tournaments and more significantly at this years Olympic Games.

Copyright © 2008 Badminton Players Federation