Was it cheating?

Eight doubles badminton players were disqualified from the Olympics yesterday for trying to lose their matches. The players, from South Korea, China and Indonesia, purposely played badly in attempts to lose their matches to get a better position in the draw in the following round. Their behaviour has been described as being 'against the spirit of the Olympics', and the players have been comprehensively criticised for their behaviour, but was it cheating, or were the teams were using the rules of this competition to maximise their chances of winning?