Eight teams take part in a tournament where each team plays against every other team exactly once. In a particular year, one team got suspended after playing 3 matches, due to a disciplinary issue. The organizers decide to proceed, nonetheless, with the remaining matches. The total number of matches that were played in the tournament that year is

If a tournament has $n$ teams and they play against every other team once, the number of matches $=\boxed{\dfrac{n(n-1)}{2}}$

Total matches with 8 teams $= \dfrac{8 \times 7}{2} = 28$ matches

When one team got suspended after playing 3 matches:

• 3 matches were already played involving the suspended team
  • The suspended team would have played 7 other teams in total
  • Since it played 3 matches before suspension, it missed playing 4 matches

Total matches played $=$ Complete tournament matches $-$ Matches not played due to suspension

Total matches played $= 28 - 4 = 24$