Top 10 Most Controversial Moments in Sports History

At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson crossed the 100m finish line in a then-world-record 9.79 seconds, only for his gold medal to be stripped just 72 hours later after a post-race drug test revealed stanozolol, an anabolic steroid. It remains the most dramatic fall from grace in Olympic history — the world watched live as the greatest sprint ever run was erased from the record books. Seven of the eight finalists in that race were subsequently linked to performance-enhancing drugs, exposing how deeply doping had penetrated elite track and field by the late 1980s.

Eight Chicago White Sox players — including the legendary "Shoeless" Joe Jackson — were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for payments from gamblers. Despite being acquitted at trial in 1921, all eight were banned from baseball for life by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis in a ruling that stood as the sport's starkest anti-corruption statement for over a century. The scandal inspired countless retellings including the 1989 film "Field of Dreams" and remains the defining cautionary tale about the corruption of professional sport.

Lance Armstrong won seven consecutive Tour de France titles between 1999 and 2005, becoming one of the most celebrated athletes in the world and a symbol of cancer survivorship — before the United States Anti-Doping Agency concluded in 2012 that his victories were the product of "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen." All seven titles were stripped, Armstrong was banned for life, and in January 2013 he confessed to Oprah Winfrey in a primetime interview watched by 28 million people. The scandal devastated cycling's credibility and left sponsors, charities, and millions of fans feeling profoundly deceived.

In the third round of the WBA Heavyweight Championship rematch between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield on 28 June 1997 in Las Vegas, Tyson bit off approximately 1 centimetre of Holyfield's right ear, spitting the chunk of cartilage onto the canvas. Referee Mills Lane deducted two points but allowed the fight to continue; moments later Tyson bit the other ear, and the bout was stopped. Tyson was fined $3 million — the maximum allowed — had his boxing licence revoked, and was banned for a year. The "Bite Fight" remains one of the most shocking acts of violence in the history of professional sport.

On 6 January 1994, just seven weeks before the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the knee with a retractable baton after a practice session in Detroit — an attack later traced to associates of her main rival, Tonya Harding. Harding pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution, was fined $160,000, sentenced to community service, and banned from figure skating for life by the US Figure Skating Association. The incident was a tabloid sensation that drew an estimated 48.5 million US viewers to the Lillehammer ladies' figure skating final, making it one of the most watched events in American television history.

With France and Italy level at 1-1 in extra time of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final in Berlin, Zinedine Zidane — widely regarded as the greatest player of his generation in his final professional match — headbutted Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the chest after reportedly being provoked by an insult about his sister. Zidane was red-carded and walked past the World Cup trophy as he left the pitch, and France lost the subsequent penalty shootout. The moment remains one of sport's most debated exits: the act of a great champion undone in his last seconds by a moment of rage, still watched and argued over nearly two decades later.

During a Heineken Cup quarter-final in April 2009, Harlequins wing Tom Williams appeared on the pitch with a blood-soaked mouth to allow a tactical substitution — the blood came not from an injury but from a blood capsule provided by the club's physiotherapist, who later made a small cut in Williams' lip to provide post-match evidence. Williams was banned for 12 months; the physiotherapist and team doctor received bans for their roles; Director of Rugby Dean Richards was banned for three years in the most severe sanction in English club rugby history. The scandal led to a complete overhaul of blood-injury substitution protocols across the sport.

In the January 2015 AFC Championship Game, footballs used by the New England Patriots were found to be significantly under-inflated — below the NFL's minimum requirement — raising suspicion that the air had been intentionally released to give quarterback Tom Brady better grip in wet conditions. The subsequent Wells Report concluded it was "more probable than not" that Brady was "at least generally aware" of the deflation; Brady was suspended for four games and the Patriots were fined $1 million and stripped of two draft picks. Brady appealed but ultimately served the ban, and "Deflategate" became synonymous with the Patriots' long-running reputation for bending the rules.

The 2016 McLaren Report confirmed that more than 1,000 Russian athletes across 30 sports had benefited from a state-sponsored doping programme between 2011 and 2015, including a covert operation at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in which dirty urine samples were swapped for clean ones through a "mouse hole" in the wall of the drug-testing laboratory. The International Olympic Committee banned individual Russian athletes from the 2016 Rio Olympics rather than the entire team; Russia was banned from competing under its own flag at subsequent Games under the name ROC. It stands as the most systematic and institutionally organised doping operation ever uncovered in sport.

At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson crossed the 100m finish line in a then-world-record 9.79 seconds, only for his gold medal to be stripped just 72 hours later after a post-race drug test revealed stanozolol, an anabolic steroid. It remains the most dramatic fall from grace in Olympic history — the world watched live as the greatest sprint ever run was erased from the record books. Seven of the eight finalists in that race were subsequently linked to performance-enhancing drugs, exposing how deeply doping had penetrated elite track and field by the late 1980s.

Eight Chicago White Sox players — including the legendary "Shoeless" Joe Jackson — were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for payments from gamblers. Despite being acquitted at trial in 1921, all eight were banned from baseball for life by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis in a ruling that stood as the sport's starkest anti-corruption statement for over a century. The scandal inspired countless retellings including the 1989 film "Field of Dreams" and remains the defining cautionary tale about the corruption of professional sport.

Lance Armstrong won seven consecutive Tour de France titles between 1999 and 2005, becoming one of the most celebrated athletes in the world and a symbol of cancer survivorship — before the United States Anti-Doping Agency concluded in 2012 that his victories were the product of "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen." All seven titles were stripped, Armstrong was banned for life, and in January 2013 he confessed to Oprah Winfrey in a primetime interview watched by 28 million people. The scandal devastated cycling's credibility and left sponsors, charities, and millions of fans feeling profoundly deceived.

In the third round of the WBA Heavyweight Championship rematch between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield on 28 June 1997 in Las Vegas, Tyson bit off approximately 1 centimetre of Holyfield's right ear, spitting the chunk of cartilage onto the canvas. Referee Mills Lane deducted two points but allowed the fight to continue; moments later Tyson bit the other ear, and the bout was stopped. Tyson was fined $3 million — the maximum allowed — had his boxing licence revoked, and was banned for a year. The "Bite Fight" remains one of the most shocking acts of violence in the history of professional sport.

On 6 January 1994, just seven weeks before the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the knee with a retractable baton after a practice session in Detroit — an attack later traced to associates of her main rival, Tonya Harding. Harding pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution, was fined $160,000, sentenced to community service, and banned from figure skating for life by the US Figure Skating Association. The incident was a tabloid sensation that drew an estimated 48.5 million US viewers to the Lillehammer ladies' figure skating final, making it one of the most watched events in American television history.

With France and Italy level at 1-1 in extra time of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final in Berlin, Zinedine Zidane — widely regarded as the greatest player of his generation in his final professional match — headbutted Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the chest after reportedly being provoked by an insult about his sister. Zidane was red-carded and walked past the World Cup trophy as he left the pitch, and France lost the subsequent penalty shootout. The moment remains one of sport's most debated exits: the act of a great champion undone in his last seconds by a moment of rage, still watched and argued over nearly two decades later.

During a Heineken Cup quarter-final in April 2009, Harlequins wing Tom Williams appeared on the pitch with a blood-soaked mouth to allow a tactical substitution — the blood came not from an injury but from a blood capsule provided by the club's physiotherapist, who later made a small cut in Williams' lip to provide post-match evidence. Williams was banned for 12 months; the physiotherapist and team doctor received bans for their roles; Director of Rugby Dean Richards was banned for three years in the most severe sanction in English club rugby history. The scandal led to a complete overhaul of blood-injury substitution protocols across the sport.

In the January 2015 AFC Championship Game, footballs used by the New England Patriots were found to be significantly under-inflated — below the NFL's minimum requirement — raising suspicion that the air had been intentionally released to give quarterback Tom Brady better grip in wet conditions. The subsequent Wells Report concluded it was "more probable than not" that Brady was "at least generally aware" of the deflation; Brady was suspended for four games and the Patriots were fined $1 million and stripped of two draft picks. Brady appealed but ultimately served the ban, and "Deflategate" became synonymous with the Patriots' long-running reputation for bending the rules.

The 2016 McLaren Report confirmed that more than 1,000 Russian athletes across 30 sports had benefited from a state-sponsored doping programme between 2011 and 2015, including a covert operation at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in which dirty urine samples were swapped for clean ones through a "mouse hole" in the wall of the drug-testing laboratory. The International Olympic Committee banned individual Russian athletes from the 2016 Rio Olympics rather than the entire team; Russia was banned from competing under its own flag at subsequent Games under the name ROC. It stands as the most systematic and institutionally organised doping operation ever uncovered in sport.