Credibility of Olympic Movement tested in 2012

BEIJING - The credibility of the Olympic Movement was called into question in 2012 again when a string of scandals and controversies hit the Olympics in London.

Starting with a ticket sale scandal and ending with a voting violation, the third Summer Games that the British capital has staged were not just a test of Olympic ability, also a test of the Olympic ideals.

Even before the July 27-August 12 extravaganza had begun, there came an embarrassment for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) when Britain's Sunday Times reported in mid-June that national Olympic committee officials and ticket agents in several countries were caught offering tickets on the black market for up to 10 times their face value.

As the NOCs are forbidden to sell their tickets abroad or to anyone who plans to resell them, the IOC was quick to launch an investigation into the report.

After a five-month probe, the IOC ethnics commission ruled that six officials from four countries - Greece, Lithuania, Malta and Serbia "helped tarnish the reputation" of the Olympics by offering tickets to the black market and ordered the national Olympic committees concerned "to take the appropriate measures" against their officials or face further action, such as withdrawing accreditation for Olympic events including the Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, the IOC promised to overhaul its system of allocating tickets for the 2016 Rio Games to avoid a repeat of the London situation.

The most controversial incident during the London Games was the disqualification of eight female badminton players - from China, South Korea and Indonesia - on the basis they were deliberately trying to lose their final group matches, to save energy and get a more favorable draw in the knock-out stage.

While some argued that it is all right to lose on purpose in the pursuit of ultimate victory, Thomas Lund, secretary general for the Badminton World Federation, explained the decision to disqualify the players in the following way: "The rules say you have to win every match, and that doesn't mean you throw some matches and win other matches."