Badminton Scandal!

If you are into badminton at all, or live in China, then you have definitely heard the latest scandal. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read on!

Last week Lin Dan, one of the top players and mega-star in China, was caught cheating on his wife. The news came out and was quickly spread on all social media websites, including all my badminton groups.

The woman he was busted with is a model, and there is (super stalker-ish) video footage of a few incidences including one where they kinda hold hands while outside (shot from the second story of a nearby apartment building) and them in a hotel room kinda hugging and touching each other shot through the open window.

Some of the video footage.

The kicker of all this? Lin Dan’s wife was pregnant and about to have their first baby when he was having this affair.

The evidence is not racy stuff, but clear enough to condemn him. In fact, in true bad-boy style Lin Dan quickly confessed.

“As a man, I do not make any excuses for myself, but my actions have hurt my family. I apologize to them here,” he wrote on Chinese social media. What an amazing non-apology apology!

You might think no one cares what a badminton player does, but you’d be wrong. All over my wechat and other social media accounts my students and friends, who aren’t interested in badminton at all were talking about it, passing on articles and sharing memes.

It was a lot like when the Tiger Woods cheating scandal broke in America.

Lin Dan, his wife, and their newborn baby. The cheating videos were taken just a few weeks before she gave birth to their baby.

In fact, that night I was on the local bus and I saw person after person reading articles about it on their phones. Seriously, it was big, big news here.

Lin Dan transcends the sport and has become a superstar in China, even breaking into non-traditional sponsorship like Mont Blanc pens. Some of his smaller sponsorship have dropped him because of this scandal, and it’s still going to be seen if the big ones, especially the sport ones, will keep him.

Honestly, this is pretty much the least shocking “scandal” I could imagine. I wouldn’t trust Lin Dan to watch my bags while I run to the bathroom much less expect him to be faithful in marriage. (I wouldn’t expect him to steal my bags, more like walk away because he doesn’t want to waste his time.)

He’s always been incredibly selfish, arrogant, and has never said he was otherwise. (I mean, come on, look at his “apology.” He’s openly proud to be banging women.)

In fact, many people think his wife not only knew about this affair but the several that he has probably had. She wrote on social media that she’s forgiven him and they will “weather the storm together.” So while many feel bad for her, I give her more credit than that. She’s a badminton champion in her own right, and I think she’s smarter than that.

His wife reassured everyone on her social media profile and put a picture of the three of them holding hands, presenting a united front.

I just love that a badminton player can cause this much of an uproar and that people care. Hell, an American badminton player could KILL someone and it wouldn’t make news, except the local police report. So while scandals and gossip aren’t the greatest use of humanities time and energy, I am glad badminton players can partake in them.