Top 10 Sports Scandals
Here Are Some Controversial Sports Moments On And Off The Field
- It was the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals match between England and Argentina. The score was 0-0 when Argentina’s Diego Maradona went to head the ball and scored. The problem was that he scored with his hand, not his head and the goal was later nicknamed “The Hand Of God.”
2. The Black Sox Scandal occurred during the 1919 World Series. White Sox player Arnold Gandil met with a gambler to convince other players to lose the series on purpose. They convinced 7 other players and they lost the World Series. The players later confessed to fixing the games and were banned from playing in the MLB.
3. During 2008’s Singapore Grand Prix, Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed on lap 14th of the race and his teammate Fernando Alonso went on to win the race. On August 3rd, 2009, Renault fired Piquet and he stated that the crash was on purpose. It was later investigated and Renault got a 2 year ban from Formula 1.
4. Cristiano Ronaldo’s second season at Manchester United was a rollercoaster. He was constantly on the bench or not even picked for matches. He soon got tired of not playing and did an interview with Piers Morgan, where he complained about the club. He got released by the club and had to go play for Saudi team Al-Nassar.
5. In the 2000 Paralympics, the Spanish National Basketball Team was challenging for gold in Sydney, Australia. They managed to win the gold medal, but it was later discovered that they had been faking being intellectually disabled. They were stripped of their gold medals and fined shortly afterwards.
6. Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies was one of the most electrifying and popular basketball players in 2022; yet after posing with a gun on Instagram Live amid an assault scandal where he attacked a teenager, he has been punished by the league with an indefinite suspension.
7. Lance Armstrong was one of cycling’s most famous athletes and won seven consecutive Tours De France and an Olympic medal. But in 2012, Armstrong was discovered to have used steroids and performance enhancing drugs and was later stripped of all his titles and his Olympic medal.
8. Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan were both great ice skaters during their time, but an attack by Harding’s ex-husband and bodyguard crippled Kerrigan in 1994. Despite this, a rehabilitated Kerrigan was able to place second against an 8th place Harding in the following Olympics.
9. In the 1980 Boston Marathon, Rosie Ruiz cleared the finish line before all other runners and became the winner of the marathon for a short-lived time. Later, she was discovered to have not run the entire marathon and instead took a giant shortcut which disqualified her.
10. In the 2001 AFC Divisional Playoff game between the New England Patriots and the Oakland Raiders, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was tackled by cornerback Charles Woodson and Brady dropped the ball. However, the call was ruled as a tuck rule instead of a fumble which allowed the Patriots to win.
