Further sanctions may be placed on the Chinese, Indonesian and South Korean badminton teams after the International Olympic Committee confirmed this morning that it had requested an inquiry of the teams' coaches and support staff.

Eight female players were thrown out of the Games on Wednesday after their blatant attempts to lose their matches to have an easier draw later in the competition outraged spectators and officials.

Now the IOC is asking the Chinese, South Korean and Indonesian national Olympic committees to investigate the coaches of the players who were disqualified. Asked whether the IOC was considering sanctions, spokesman Mark Adams replied: "I wouldn't say sanctions as yet but we have asked the NOCs [national committees] to see if there questions to be answered."

He added that the committees are taking away the players' accreditations and sending them home. The Chinese player Yu Yang said this morning on Chinese social media that she was quitting the sport, and blamed the scandal on a change to a round-robin format in the early stages of the tournament.