Chinese badminton star’s Olympic match-fixing claim: footage appears to show coach admitting to plan

Footage from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV shows controversial coach Li Yongbo appearing to admit to ordering Ye Zhaoying to throw Olympic semi-final

‘We did make a decision. After much discussion and careful consideration, it was to mobilise Ye Zhaoying to concede,’ he says in footage

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Gong Zhichao (centre) of China won gold, Camilla Martin (left) of Denmark took Silver and Ye Zhaoying bronze in the women’s badminton at the 200 Olympic Games in Sydney. Photo: Allsport

Published: 9:43am, 31 Aug 2022

A bombshell claim by former badminton world No 1 Ye Zhaoying that she was ordered to throw her 2000 Olympics semi-final has sparked fresh interest in old footage of her former China coach Li Yongbo appearing to admit to match-fixing.

Footage has resurfaced on YouTube of an old but undated programme broadcast by Chinese state media network CCTV, reporting that an internal meeting was held within the national badminton team at the Sydney Games, during which “a deliberate discussion of match-fixing for the semi-final was launched”.

The programme, posted on YouTube in 2018, has attracted a fresh flurry of comments since Ye made her claim to Danish television last week.

The then-badminton world champion Ye lost the match in question in straight sets to compatriot Gong Zhichao, who went on to beat Denmark’s Camilla Martin to win the gold medal in the final.

“The match results from the second half of 1998 and the entire year of 1995 were analysed,” Li said in the CCTV interview. “In the matches against Camilla Martin, Yu Zhaoying is more likely to lose the game. But Gong Zhichao rarely lost a match against Martin.

“And in media coverage or interviews, Martin has clearly said that she didn’t like playing against Gong Zhichao. She found it difficult to break Gong’s defence. On the other hand, she never had the same feeling after her matches against Ye Zhaoying.”