Biggest Ban Scandals In Sport History: Longest Penalties

To acknowledge the Calvin Ridley NFL Scandal, we collected the biggest ban scandals in Sport History. At some point in their career, these players were all available on the retail or  online sportsbook sites in the US. But thanks to one of the four main penalty categories, they lost everything they worked for. If you are interested in penalties and bans, then you should read our article about that one time when Hustler banned cheater live.

The Biggest Ban Scandals In Sport History

According to the database of the OLBG, there are hundreds of sportsmen banned for a lifetime. Therefore, let’s rank the reasons for these penalties by occurrence.

1. Match Fixing
2. Banned Substances
3. Violent Conduct
4. Off-field Issues

The most common occurrence of the biggest ban scandals in sport history involved match-fixing. This means that the players were rigging the matches, so they can benefit from the outcome. Second, to this, comes Banned Substances, which are often steroids or other drugs-related issues. Violent Conduct is usually violence against people or other players. And the fourth is the Off-field Issues. For example, Michael Vick’s ban from the NFL due to the admitted dogfighting rig. Therefore, whoever was banned for the fourth reason, is likely committing activities the given sports association doesn’t want to associate with. Without further ado, let’s check out the biggest ban scandals in sport history.

1. Lance Armstrong 

Lance Armstrong's name comes up when you are thinking about professional cycling. The man became the typical meme icon of steroids. Because he is wearing the crown of the biggest ban scandals in sport history. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMd3DdjaJhk According to History, he was stripped of his seven Tour De France titles. The investigations against his doping case began after he won six consecutive Tour De France rallies. 

2. Stanley Wilson

The biggest ban scandals in sport history couldn’t be complete without mentioning Stanley Wilson. He was a player of the Cincinnati Bengals. Yet he was banned from the National Football League. After his drug abuse problems. He has been skipping a handful of championships due to drug-related problems before his ban. According to the archives of the Los Angeles Times, he was banned for a lifetime after he failed his third drug test in the NFL. A player has three chances to get rid of his substance abuse issues. The first time is only a warning with a regular drug test. The second time is a thirty days ban. But if someone returns and fails the test for the third time, then they lose their NFL career for life.

3. Frank Filchock

Frank Filchock and Merle Harpes were both involved in the biggest ban scandals in sport history. They were young NFL players, approached by Alvin J. Paris, the frontman of a bookmaker syndicate back then. They offered money and a fix job to convince them to throw the match. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bx40wiiCo0 When the NFL learned about the scandal, the owners of the teams met one of the representatives of the NFL, calling the two players in. Merle Harpes did not admit to having met Alvin J. Paris before the game, but Frank Filchock did. Therefore, only Filchock was banned from the game and professional football as well. He received a 3 years ban in 1947.

4. Esmond Million

Esmond Million is a fading name among the biggest ban scandals in sport history. Because losing his career was not a struggle and an ethical question. He was exposed for rigging matches. The case is called the 1964 British football match-fixing scandal. In short, he was taking a £300 bribe to throw a match. After his life-long ban from professional football, he emigrated to Canada with his family, and he started playing professional ice hockey. Therefore, we know very little about his current life, but he is probably a retired small sportsman.

5. Alex Rodriguez

According to the Bleacher Report, Alex Rodriguez was one of the better players when it came to behavior after his ban. The baseball champion has lost his title, reputation, and $40 million cash due to his performance-enhancing substance abuse. In a report with ESPN, he stated the following in retrospect:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWTH9e8CrvM “Yeah, I mean there are so many frustrating things when you look back at that. Number one, you have a guaranteed contract for hundreds of millions of dollars. You can sit on the couch and get fat. Right, how stupid can you be? ... This thing cost me over $40 million. And it cost me my reputation, and it may have cost me the Hall of Fame and several other things."

6. Adrian Mutu

One of the biggest ban scandals in sports history might be Adrian Mutu’s performance-enhancing drug ban. He failed the doping test, and he still received nothing but a nine months ban penalty. This is nothing compared to what other sportsmen got for the same reason. Yet the striker of Chelsea claimed that the ban was unfair and that he shouldn’t have deserved that much. To hold the title of a champion in your sport and to performance-enhancing drugs. It just doesn’t seem right, therefore his penalty was one hundred percent deserved. He received his final penalty for cocaine abuse. Therefore, it is questionable whether it was enhancing his performance, but it was certainly against the code of conduct.

7. Kolo Touré: Biggest Ban Scandals In Sport History

On the other hand, Kolo Touré took his punishment like a champion. The Manchester City defender failed his drug test for the third time. Therefore they sent him away. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FCFbA8vJ-s In an interview, he apologized to his fans and thanked the committee for giving him another chance. However, this doesn’t make him the hero of the story. Simply, he was showing the basic behavior a person should show when they break a multi-million dollar contract for substance abuse.

Biggest Ban Scandals In Sport History Concluded

To conclude the biggest ban scandals in sport history. These players were all receiving penalties for illegal activities. Therefore, even the biggest fans must agree to these penalties. Some of these players made it back to professional play, some completely disappeared and others are living their retired life with whatever they managed to save after law courts. If you enjoy reading about cheaters, then check out the cheating scandals in the gambling world. If you are interested in betting on the return of banned players, then you should check out bet365 Sportsbook. They offer quality NFL and NBA betting lines every month.

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