Rugby match-throwing farce rocks China's National Games

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China's National Games was rocked by a scandal on Tuesday after the Beijing team threw the women's rugby final against the Shandong team in a protest to controversial refereeing.

The Beijing team had been widely considered the favorites to win gold in the women's rugby tournament, but Shangdong scored two tries to jump 10-0 up soon after the start of the match.

The umpire awarded Shandong another try in the second half, a decision which Beijing players claimed "wrong". The Beijing players then refused to play and stood still on the pitch, only to see their opponents score easily and eventually win by a scoreline of 71-0.

An official of the jury committee for the ongoing National Games told Xinhua that they are reviewing the match videos and an inquiry is likely to be launched.

The National Games, the country's mini-Olympics, were first held in 1959. In China's gold-obsessed sports system, winning the national title can be as the same important as winning an Olympic gold to the athletes and officials as well. And as a result of it, cheating, match-fixing and corruption are common.

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