Exposing the Biggest Sports Scandals in History

Theoretically speaking, fairness is a fundamental principle of all amateur and professional sports. We’ve also seen ample examples of tremendous sportsmanship throughout the years, from Andrew Flintoff consoling a crestfallen Brett Lee after England’s historic Ashes win at Edgbaston in 2005 to Jack Nicklaus conceding a tie to rival Tony Jacklin in the iconic 1969 Ryder Cup.

As any fan of online sports betting will tell you, however, various disciplines have been tarnished by examples of cheating and rule breaking. Some of these have occurred at the highest level too. In this post, we’ll address the biggest sports scandals in history, while appraising their legacy and how they’re viewed today.

• Infamous Sports Scandals Through History
• The Black Sox Scandal – The Most Infamous of All Sports Controversies
• Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan – A Rivalry Gone Too Far
• The Mitchell Report – Uncovering Baseball’s Steroid Era
• The Hand of God – Diego Maradona’s Most Scandalous Goal
• Pete Rose and Gambling – Tarnishing a Truly Great Legacy
• Jontay Porter – Betting Scandals Reach the Modern NBA

Infamous Sports Scandals Through History

Because of the fairness that is inherent to sport, fans tend to have an incredibly emotional response when their heroes are found to have erred, cheated or broken laws. This may have much to do with the fact that we often put our favorite athletes on undeserved pedestals, overlooking their basic humanity and the issues that they may experience off the field.

Of course, some of the most interesting and biggest sports scandals had little to do with the action that took place on the field of play. Take Tiger Woods and his numerous extra-marital affairs, for example, which precipitated a staggering fall from grace and cost the legendary golfer millions in lost sponsorship deals despite being completely unrelated to his game.

Scandals of this type also generate significant moral outrage, but there are plenty of on-field and sports-related incidents that have been similarly seismic. Betting scandals offer a relevant case in point, as they completely undermine the integrity of individual sports and damage the relationship between fans and their favorite sides.

We’ll touch on several particularly infamous sports controversies that involved gambling below, including the ‘Black Sox’ scandal of 1919. This was arguably the first great scandal of the modern age too, and one that sent shockwaves through the sport of baseball. It’s also an event that’s still talked about to this day.

The Black Sox Scandal – The Most Infamous of All Sports Controversies

The 1919 World Series was the 16th edition of this iconic championship series, and matched the American League champions the Chicago White Sox with National League winners the Cincinnati Reds. Interestingly, the MLB made this iteration of the World Series a best-of-nine event, in order to increase the popularity of the sport and boost revenues.

This seems somewhat ironic now, as it transpired that eight White Sox players (led by the uncompromising Chick Gandil) had sought to fix the outcome of the series. Boston-based gambler ‘Sport’ Sullivan is thought to have approached Gandil, while organized crime figure Arnold Rothstein also played a key role in facilitating the betting syndicate.

The Reds subsequently won the series 5-3, although the fix was uncovered shortly afterwards. This precipitated one of the biggest sports scandals of all time, with internal MLB and criminal investigations following through 1920 and 1921. On August 2nd, 1921, the eight implicated players were acquitted of all criminal charges, largely because key evidence (including signed confessions) had disappeared from the grand jury files. Even so, they were subsequently given lifetime bans from organized baseball.

The bans were issued and upheld by the newly installed MLB commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who had been appointed to manage the fallout and prevent similar instances of match-fixing in the future. The White Sox crashed into seventh place in 1921 after losing the core of their championship winning team, and they didn’t win another World Series until 2005. Some have referred to this as ‘the curse of the Black Sox’.

Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan – A Rivalry Gone Too Far

Ice skating isn’t a sport that’s synonymous with aggression or unsportsmanlike behavior. So, there appeared to be little unusual about the rivalry between US skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, who were both supremely talented and competing to represent their country in the upcoming U.S. Figure Skating Championships early in 1994.

On the afternoon of January 6th, however, a man assailed Kerrigan after a practice session at Detroit’s Cobo Arena. Approaching from behind, he forcibly struck the skater with a telescopic baton just above the right knee. The aftermath was caught on camera by a film crew that was recording her practice session, although the attacker managed to escape from the arena by smashing his way through a locked door.

Harding was not suspected at all initially, and she subsequently competed in the championships while Kerrigan recovered. After weeks of speculation, however, it emerged that Harding’s ex-husband Jeff Gillooly and her bodyguard Shawn Eckardt had conspired to commit the attack and hired a third man, Shane Stant, to carry it out.

Despite the allegations, Harding denied all knowledge of the attack. However, she subsequently accepted a plea deal in which she confessed to helping cover up the assault and protect the assailants after the fact. She received three years of probation and a $100,000 fine for hindering the prosecution, while Gillooly was sentenced to two years in prison. Further investigations involving a grand jury and a USFSA disciplinary panel uncovered additional evidence of her involvement during the initial planning phase, although her plea deal ruled out the possibility of further criminal charges.

Intriguingly, both skaters represented the USA at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Here, Nancy Kerrigan managed to place second and claim silver behind 16-year-old Ukrainian Oksana Baiul. However, Harding placed a distant eighth and performed well below her best, while dealing with the jeers and whistles of the crowd.

The Mitchell Report – Uncovering Baseball’s Steroid Era

Fans of baseball will know that players were becoming increasingly powerful as records began to tumble during the mid-to-late 90s. In 1998, for example, both Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire broke the single season home-run record, which had been previously held by Roger Maris for 37 years. However, such accomplishments were subsequently undermined by the ‘Mitchell Report’, which uncovered widespread steroid abuse in the sport at the time.

McGwire himself admitted to taking androstenedione, an over-the-counter performance-enhancing drug that was banned by most sporting bodies but not the MLB in 1998. The 10-year period between 1994 and 2004 became known as baseball’s ‘Steroid Era’, during which some estimates suggested that a large share of MLB players were taking PEDs to one degree or another.

Ultimately, the Mitchell Report (compiled following a 20-month investigation led by former US Senator George J. Mitchell and released on December 13th, 2007) named 89 MLB players who were alleged to have used steroids or similar PEDs. This number included well-known players like Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada and Éric Gagné, further amplifying one of the largest sports scandals in history.

While many of the allegations made against players were either denied or unsubstantiated, the MLB subsequently introduced a much more stringent drug testing policy. Punishments and bans were also scaled significantly, while the MLB increased the number of substances that it tested players for too.

The Hand of God – Diego Maradona’s Most Scandalous Goal

Not all sports controversies are created equal, of course, and sometimes, instances of cheating are a little more opportunistic in nature. Perhaps the best example of this is Diego Maradona’s scandalous goal against England in the 1986 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal, which came with the game delicately poised at 0-0 entering the 51st minute.

Maradona’s individual brilliance aside, this Argentina side was far from outstanding, and many thought that England had a chance of progressing to the last four. Just six minutes into the second half at the Azteca in Mexico City, however, England midfielder Steve Hodge diverted the ball towards his own goal after Argentine forward Jorge Valdano lost possession.

The ball looped goalwards with Maradona onside, but it seemed inevitable that towering goalkeeper Peter Shilton would claim possession over the diminutive forward. However, Argentina’s number 10 leapt with his hand and blatantly punched the ball into the net, with this scarcely concealed act of cheating inexplicably missed by linesman Bogdan Dochev and referee Ali Bin Nasser.

The irony, of course, is that the sublimely talented Maradona had no need to cheat. Just four minutes later, he weaved his way past the entire England backline in a dazzling run from halfway, before slaloming past the flailing Shilton and sliding home. Despite a late goal by Gary Lineker, Argentina subsequently prevailed and eventually beat West Germany in the final to win the World Cup. You can read about more flashpoints from the tournament’s history in our roundup of the biggest World Cup controversies.

The goal cemented Maradona’s status as one of history’s most controversial sports figures, although he has since spoken quite candidly about it and refused to apologize or demonstrate any contrition. The goal certainly still irks the English, who have only managed to reach two World Cup semi-finals in the years since.

Pete Rose and Gambling – Tarnishing a Truly Great Legacy

Now for another controversy involving baseball, and one of the most infamous athlete scandals of all time. It centers around Cincinnati legend Pete Rose, who is undoubtedly one of the best MLB players ever and subsequently managed the Reds. However, he endured recurring accusations of betting on baseball games during his career, which accelerated during his time as manager in the mid-to-late 1980s.

Things came to a head on August 24th, 1989, when Rose voluntarily accepted a permanent place on baseball’s ineligible list. This required him to accept that there was a factual reason for the ban being imposed, while the MLB agreed to raise no formal finding about the numerous gambling allegations against him (or the amounts wagered). The ban also kept him off the MLB’s Hall of Fame ballot.

Rose denied the allegations for years, particularly those suggesting that he bet directly against the Reds while managing them. However, John M. Dowd (a lawyer who was hired to investigate the charges against Rose) said in a 2002 interview that he believed the latter claim to be probably true. Even so, this could not be proven conclusively, and Rose himself eventually admitted in his 2004 memoir that he had bet on baseball and on the Reds, but maintained that he never wagered against his own team.

Rose died on September 30th, 2024, at the age of 83, with his case still unresolved. In a significant turn, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced on May 13th, 2025 that permanent bans would now expire upon a person’s death, formally removing Rose from the ineligible list. The decision makes him eligible for Hall of Fame consideration for the first time, though the Classic Baseball Era Committee that would weigh his case isn’t due to meet again until December 2028. To this day, his legacy remains shrouded in debate, balancing his standing as the all-time hits leader against the gambling that ended his career on the field.

Jontay Porter – Betting Scandals Reach the Modern NBA

Pete Rose’s case is often framed as a relic of a different era, yet the legalization of sports betting across much of the United States has shown that the temptation hasn’t gone away. The clearest recent example arrived in the NBA, where Toronto Raptors two-way player Jontay Porter received a lifetime ban on April 17th, 2024.

A league investigation found that Porter had disclosed confidential information about his own health to a known bettor before a March 20th, 2024 game. Another individual then placed an $80,000 parlay proposition bet that Porter would underperform, after which Porter played only three minutes before exiting, claiming illness. The unusual betting activity caused the sportsbook to freeze the wager rather than pay it out.

The probe also found that Porter had placed at least 13 bets on NBA games through an associate’s account, including parlays in which he wagered on the Raptors to lose. He later pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The case echoes the Rose saga closely, reminding everyone that an athlete betting against his own side remains one of the few transgressions that sports leagues treat as unforgivable.

The Last Word

Other notorious sports scandals include the 23-month prison sentence handed to NFL star Michael Vick in December 2007, after he was found guilty of bankrolling a dog fighting ring that saw a large number of animals abused. Spain’s intellectual disability basketball team at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics were also found to have fielded a squad in which 10 of the 12 players had no qualifying disability and were completely ineligible to compete, leading to their gold medal being stripped and reallocated to Russia.

Then there’s Lance Armstrong, whose seven successive Tour de France wins were scrubbed from the record books in 2012 after the American was found to have used PEDs over the course of his career. The US Anti-Doping Agency described it as one of the most sophisticated doping programs in the history of cycling, while Armstrong himself remains banned for life from all sanctioned events.

While many of these scandals were shocking and sent shockwaves throughout their respective sports, they shouldn’t detract from the tremendous sportsmanship, effort and integrity that underpins most disciplines and leagues. They should, however, remind us that athletes are still human and capable of making seismic mistakes during their careers.