Seven sporting scandals that shocked the world
While sports is supposed to bring out the best in sportsmanship and team spirit, there have been incidents that have marred the very image of the game they represent. From doping allegations, corruption charges, sex scandals to murder – sports has been witness to a number of scandals. Here, we look at seven sporting scandals that shocked the world:
Oscar Pistorius murders his girlfriend: South African sprint runner, Oscar Pistorius, who is also known as the blade runner, shocked the sporting world when it was found that he had fatally shot dead his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, in February 2013. Prior to the murder and conviction, Oscar, a double amputee at the age of 11 months, had been one of the most inspirational sportsmen in the world. Oscar received a five year jail sentence for culpable homicide, and a three year concurrent sentence for reckless endangerment. He was subsequently placed under house arrest. In 2015, the Appeal Court overturned the culpable homicide charge and convicted him of murder. He is due for a hearing in April 2016 to receive a date on which he will be sentenced for murder conviction.
Tennis match fixing charges: The world of tennis came under a shadow when secret files emerged showing that, over the years, 16 players in the top 50 rank had been suspected of throwing away their matches. The report was released after BBC and BuzzFeed got hold of the files which showed that the Tennis Integrity Unit had been monitoring the players. World number one, Novak Djokovic, also revealed that he had been approached by a match fixer and offered USD 200,000 to throw away a match earlier in his career, but he had refused.
FIFA corruption: In an event that shocked football lovers, US prosecutors disclosed cases of corruption by FIFA officials, last year. Seven FIFA officials were arrested in May 2015, in a dawn raid at a hotel in Zurich. They were charged by US authorities over allegations of racketeering, money laundering and bribery. After the scandal came to light, the then president, Sepp Blatter announced that he would call for elections to appoint a new president and that he will not be standing in them, but refused to step down from his post. The Swiss Attorney General’s office announced criminal proceedings against him on charges of ‘criminal mismanagement and misappropriation’. In October 2015, Sepp was suspended pending investigation and was banned from taking part in any FIFA related activities for eight years.
IPL spot fixing scam: The Twenty20 format of the gentleman’s game has been anything but gentlemanly. In June, 2013, cricketers S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, were caught by the Delhi police on charges of spot fixing. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended the players, pending investigation. In July 2015, however, the Patiala House Court acquitted all the three of the charges. The Mumbai police also arrested Vindoo Dara Singh and Gurunath Meiyappan the team principal of the Chennai Super Kings, and son-in-law of former President of the BCCI and Chairman of the ICC, N. Srinivasan, on charges of match fixing. Both Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra were banned for life after an inquiry committee, headed by former Chief Justice RM Lodha, found them guilty of bringing the game to disrepute.
Doping scandal in weightlifting: In one of the biggest doping scandals in the recent years, the Indian Weightlifting Federation suspended 21 weightlifters after testing positive for banned substances. The maximum offenders were caught at the National Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships and were from Punjab, Delhi, Haryana and Manipur. The IWF has already faced bans from the International Federation in 2004, 2006 and 2009, when athletes had been tested positive in international games. In 2010, India had to pay a fine of Rs 2 crores to be able to participate in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, held in Delhi.
Hockey sex scandal: Former Indian women’s hockey coach, MK Kaushik, the man who inspired Shah Rukh Khan’s Chak De India, quit in 2010, after being blamed by team member, TS Ranjitha of sexual harassment. The team videographer, Basavraj, was also sacked after photographs of him with prostitutes were leaked and were sent via email to Hockey India, during a tour to China and Canada.
Lance Armstrong doping charges: One of the biggest motivational sport stars of all times, professional road cyclist and seven time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong, shocked the sporting world when he was found to have been using banned performance enhancing substances. The testicular cancer survivor initially denied having used any substances, but accepted that he had taken banned substances throughout most of his cycling career, on an interview with Oprah Winfrey, in January 2013. He was stripped of all his medals.
