In the world of professional sports, the level of competition is comparable to no other, grown men, women, and they’re putting everything on the line for the chance at winning their respective trophies or titles. These hard-fought physical battles often make for a great spectacle, but there is a dark side to this as well. For many, winning can come at a premium, and this is where the integrity of the game can sometimes be thrown out of the window. The idea of cheating will always be present in any event that is treated as a competition, but with millions of fans watching and even more money on the line, there have been many times that athletes have attempted to take shortcuts to victory, sometimes successful, other times not so much. 

Diego Armando Maradona’s La Mano De Dios 

The beautiful game otherwise known as football to most of the world or soccer in the States is the most popular sport in the world. With that, its tournaments attract a large viewing, specifically the World Cup. 32 nation’s field teams and travel to one chosen place to play out the tournament for about a month. This is a tradition that has been taking place once every 4 years since the summer of 1930. Over that period there have been many different winners, one of which is the South American nation Argentina. Argentina are known for producing world class players such as Sergio Aguero, Lionel Messi, and Diego Maradona. The last player mentioned was a part of the legendary Argentina side that won the World Cup in 1986. However, on their way to victory, they had one moment that stood out. Playing England in the quarterfinals of the tournament, Maradona seemingly executed a brilliant header leading to Argentina’s winning goal over the English. Though after further inspection, it can be seen that Maradona used his hand to put the ball in the net. Handball is an often debated rule about what should and should not be a foul, but the entire football world agrees that in this instance, the goal should not have stood. In controversial fashion, the goal stood and Argentina advanced. Of course, the reaction to this became even more sour after Argentina went on to win the tournament. Although this may not be as scandalous as situations such as doping, having happened on the biggest stage in all of sports, this goes down as an iconic moment of cheating in sports. 

Deflategate  

Did it happen? Did Brady know? What is it?

The NFL has specific rules and regulations pertaining to cleats used, socks worn, and more importantly balls used during the games. The last mentioned rule ended up being involved in a massive investigation as Tom Brady used deflated throwing balls in the 2015 AFC championship. Many theories have been suggested as to why this could have happened and how this even benefited Brady and New England. Well, it is tough to say if the Colts ever had a chance after being beaten fairly convincingly 45-7, however that does not change the fact that the Patriots with Tom Brady at the helm manipulated the pressure of the balls to gain an unfair advantage. The reason that this is so talked about it because during an NFL game each team has their own set of balls that they use when playing offense. Therefore, the Colts offensive players never used the balls with less pressure in them to have the same advantage that the Patriots players did.

Bountygate  

NFL player’s safety has not always been at the forefront of the game; however, in recent times, groups such as the NFL Players Association or NFLPA have been taking steps to ensure the game is played at the safest possible level.  However, in the case of the 2009-2011 New Orleans Saints, safety was an afterthought. This has to deal with players of the Saints intentionally injuring opposing players to keep them out of the game. Players would put money into a pool, so to speak, and every game day “bounties” would be assigned to opposing players in varying positions of importance to a team. It was said that typically the opposing teams quarterbacks would have the highest financial reward for the player who was able to put him out of the game. Players were suspended for their involvement in the scandal along with current Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton who was thought to be behind the operation.

 Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong was once known to be one of the greatest cyclist that had ever lived. Comparable to Lebron James or Lionel Messi, he dominated the cycling scene when he was competing. Armstrong won seven consecutive Tour De France titles from the years  1999-2005, and was later stripped of every title after being found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs.

Russian Doping Scandal 2016 

In every scandal there is a ring leader, someone at the top of the operation that gets the ball rolling. In this case it was Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov otherwise known as “the heart of Russian doping.” In 2016 after once being the one in charge of the entire scandal, Rodchenkov “blew the whistle” on the entire operation, resulting in a ban of all Russian athletes from the following Olympic games. This resulted in Rodchenkov eventually fleeing Russian territory for the U.S. out of concerns regarding his safety.