Top 10 scandals in the world of football

Football has been involved in a good number of scandals; after all, it is a lucrative and widely watched Sports game, thus, controversy-seeking sports are bound to have their share.

Even though there are football players who are morally admirable and serve as role models for others off the pitch, many of them engage in extramarital affairs and other inappropriate behaviour, which makes them and others around them seem bad when discovered.

Here are the top 10 football scandals and disputes in football history:

1. Calciopoli Scandal (2006)

The allegations surrounding the 2006 Calciopoli Scandal, which involved numerous elite Italian teams allegedly influencing the selection of referees for their matches among other things, shocked the world of football.

Juventus, the league champions in 2005 and 2006, lost their crowns and were demoted to Serie B, where they spent one season before quickly making their way back to the top division.

Even if Juventus faced severe penalties for their involvement, AC Milan and a few other teams should count themselves lucky not to face even more severe repercussions.

It had a significant effect on Italian and international football, and ever since, more safety measures have been implemented in the sport.

2. Florentino Perez blasts Real Madrid legends in leaked audio tapes

Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo can be pardoned for thinking that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez would be appreciative of their services to the team.

After all, the pair helped Los Blancos defeat one of the best club teams in history, Pep Guardiola’s storied Barcelona, in a thrilling 2011–12 La Liga match.

Rather than extending cordial congratulations, Perez called Mourinho and Ronaldo “idiots” and “abnormal” in a string of audio leaks that El Confidencial made public. The tapes from the 2006 leaks first came to light in July of 2021. Speaking of Cristiano Ronaldo, Perez said:

“Ronaldo is crazy. The guy is an idiot; he’s sick. You think this guy is normal, but he’s not. If he was, he wouldn’t do all the things he does.”

3. Referee Robert Hoyzer’s Fixing Scandal

The German football federation suspected German referee Robert Hoyzer of manipulating a Cup match involving Hamburg, which put him under investigation.

He had originally refuted the accusation but he later acknowledged that he was at fault and pledged to give the investigation his full cooperation. He gave two penalties against Hamburg and sent off a Hamburg player in the Hamburg vs. Paderborn match that was the subject of a DFB investigation.

4. The Unfortunate Murder of Andres Escobar

It is often thought that Colombian defender Andres Escobar’s murder occurred in July 1994, shortly after the team’s elimination from the World Cup as a result of his own goal.

It can be a group of drug dealers who gambled against the side that the honourable defender was targeted by and lost money. It is pretty evident that it was an unfortunate error that occasionally even the best defenders in the game might make, and it is tragic that he was killed.

We can only pray that these kinds of things don’t happen again.

5. Wayne Rooney’s Affair with Jenny Thomson

Allegations surfaced that Wayne Rooney had slept with an escort female when his wife Coleen Rooney was expecting, which left him facing a very difficult period. After a dismal World Cup, it resulted in multiple reports being released in the media, which was another setback for the Ex-Manchester United striker.

After that, the Forward even lost form for a few months and had a protracted contract dispute with Manchester United before agreeing to a new deal with the Red Devils.

6. Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema and the Underage Prostitute Zahia Dehar

Zahia Dehar, a young prostitute, was the subject of an alleged sex scandal involving Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema, and Sidney Govou.

She had been accused of having sex with each of the three football players while she was younger than eighteen, however, Ribery and the other players maintain that they were unaware of her age at the time of the occurrence.

She expressed her surprise that they would be charged with a crime in the future, saying that they had all been friendly to her.

7. Police arrest former Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu after raiding Camp Nou

Josep Bartomeu, the former president of Barcelona, went one step further and was detained after the team experienced financial difficulties. The situation was made worse when it was discovered that the former president had engaged a social media company to openly criticise the players and personnel of the team.

Early in March of 2021, Catalan authorities invaded Camp Nou as Barcelona was drowning in debt totalling more than one billion euros. Roman Gomez Ponti, the head of legal services, and Oscar Grau, the club’s senior executive, were also arrested.

The financial scandal had terrible repercussions for Barcelona, as they quickly lost their beloved Lionel Messi. The team was unable to provide an offer to him without violating La Liga’s financial fair play regulations.

The club, according to new president Laporta, lost €481 million and had a €451 million negative net worth. Because of this, renegotiating the players’ contracts was challenging.

8. Dani Alves Sexually Assaulting

Dani Alves, a former player for Barcelona and Brazil, was placed under temporary arrest in Spain in January after he was accused of sexually abusing a lady in a Barcelona nightclub. Alves angrily denied any misconduct and insisted that the meeting was consensual.

He was found guilty of sexual assault in February 2024 and was given a sentence of four and a half years in prison, which he has already completed more than a year.

9. Bruno Fernandes’ Love Affair Ends in Murder

This is one of the most regrettable instances of hasty decisions; ideally, occurrences like this won’t happen again. By the way, this is not about Man United Bruno.

Eliza Samudio, Bruno Fernandes‘s ex-girlfriend, reportedly became pregnant at their first meeting, and Fernandes was furious that she chose to retain the child. The Flamengo custodian was angry with her persistence after he had threatened her multiple times.

Afterwards, he and retired policeman Santos are said to have enticed Samadio to a location where she was killed.

Despite being one of Brazil’s best goalkeepers, the Flamengo goalkeeper’s future had undoubtedly been affected by this regrettable event. This was the worst football scandals in football world.

10. Israeli Team’s Prostitute Enjoyment Following 8-0 Defeat

After Israel lost their European playoff match against Denmark 8-0 on aggregate, former manager Shlomo Scharf announced his resignation, stating he was “dumbfounded” by the behavior of his players.

The unfortunate manager was shocked to learn that the players had invited call girls to their hotel in Israel prior to the match and to Copenhagen before the second leg.

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