Indonesia bans Games scandal shuttlers

Tournament referee Torsten Berg (3rd R) speaks to players from South Korea (in blue) and Indonesia (in red) during their women's doubles group play stage Group C badminton match during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Wembley Arena July 31, 2012.??[Photo/Agencies]

Indonesian badminton doubles pair Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari have been hit with a four-month ban for their role in a match-throwing scandal at the London Olympics.

The Indonesian pair, along with four players from South Korea and two from China, were kicked out of the Games in August for deliberately trying to lose matches.

Amid farcical scenes, the players served into the net and missed easy shots in an attempt to lose their games and gain favourable draws in the knockout stages.

"After studying and listening to all sides, the sanction will be applied from the date of the incident until Dec. 3," national association (PSBI) secretary general Yacob Rusdianto told the local Antara news agency on Tuesday.

"With all due respect, we suffer losses (in this decision) but it should be understood that the sanction should be given because they violated rules of fair play. The Badminton World Federation has declared them guilty.

"Hopefully this could be accepted by all sides, don't keep on delaying the sanction, have pity on the athletes," he added. "There will always be pros and cons, there will be people who say it's too light or too heavy."

The four South Korean players booted out of the Games were initially given two-year bans which were cut to six months, while coach Sung Han-kook has had a lifetime suspension cut to two years.

Chinese player Yu Yang announced her retirement from the sport in the fallout from the scandal.