42 Sports Scandals That Made Headlines

Recently, the University of Michigan football program was caught up in controversy over allegations of illegal sign stealing. An NCAA investigation is underway into claims that since 2021, staffer Connor Stallions bought tickets to rival teams' games to film and decode their hand signals for a competitive advantage.

Sign stealing is not an isolated incident in sports; it's a recurring issue. In recent years, several top professional teams across baseball and football have faced penalties for similar espionage, including the MLB's Red Sox and Astros as well as the NFL's Patriots. Although these high-profile cases are among the few that have been formally exposed and disciplined, experts believe that many more teams are likely involved in covert operations to decipher their opponents' playcalling codes. (Here are the 17 most talked-about corruption scandals in sports history.)

Sports scandals range from questionable on-field strategies to egregious off-field behavior. While many controversies involve cheating and banned substance abuse that skew the fairness of the game, numerous infamous incidents also stem from athletes' actions outside the spotlight.

Some scandals even involve coaches and trainers who have faced accusations of physical or sexual abuse of athletes in their care. Sports executives have also been involved in controversy, with some facing charges related to money laundering and racketeering. Even governments are involved in sports scandals, such as state-sponsored doping programs aimed at artificially enhancing Olympic performances, has triggered international investigations and widespread condemnation.

To create a list of the most significant sports scandals, 24/7 Tempo reviewed various online sources specializing in sports news and history. We selected cases based on their impact and the extent of unethical conduct involved, focusing on those that had a large effect on the public.

• Sport/League: 1912 Olympic Games
• When it occurred: 1913

At the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Jim Thorpe made history as the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal for the U.S. However, he was stripped of his titles a year later when it was discovered that he had previously violated amateurism rules by playing semi-professional baseball. It wasn't until 1983, 30 years after his death, that the Olympic Committee restored his two gold medals.

• Sport/League: Major League Baseball
• When it occurred: 1919-20

In 1919, eight Chicago White Sox players were accused of conspiring with gamblers to intentionally lose the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. Allegedly, the players received only part of their payment after throwing several games, leading them to try and abandon the scheme. However, threats against their families forced them to proceed with losing the final game. Although the players were acquitted in 1921, but were permanently banned from professional baseball.

• Sport/League: College basketball
• When it occurred: 1951

Just after the City College of New York Beavers became the first college basketball team to win the NCAA and NIT tournaments in the same year, 31 players from seven colleges, including seven from CCNY, admitted to taking bribes in exchange for point shaving. The players helped fix a total of 86 games in 17 states.

• Sport/League: Horse racing
• When it occurred: 1978

Mark Gerard was a veterinarian known for importing thoroughbred horses. In 1977, he bought two nearly identical bay horses: a champion racer named Cinzano and a lackluster runner named Lebon. When Lebon suffered a fatal injury, Gerard switched their identities, claiming Cinzano had died. He then bet heavily on Lebon (actually Cinzano) in a race, making a fortune. His scheme was eventually uncovered, leading to his arrest and imprisonment.

• Sport/League: College basketball
• When it occurred: 1978-79

In 1978, mobsters Rocco and Anthony Perla organized a betting syndicate that bribed multiple Boston College basketball players to keep their points below a certain margin. In 1980, mob associate Henry Hill was arrested on unrelated charges and revealed information about the scheme to the FBI. Multiple conspirators were convicted, and three players admitted to taking the bribe money, although only one was convicted.

• Sport/League: Road running
• When it occurred: 1980

In 1979, Rosie Ruiz deceitfully finished the New York City Marathon in 11th place in the women's category by joining the race partway through. Her fraudulent time qualified her for the Boston Marathon, where she crossed the finish line as the first woman. However, just eight days later, her title was revoked when sufficient evidence revealed that she had joined the race about half a mile from the finish line. Ruiz never admitted her guilt.

• Sport/League: Major League Baseball
• When it occurred: 1980s

Spanning the 1980s, numerous MLB players were arrested or treated for using illegal drugs. Players on the Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres, Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves were arrested for cocaine possession, while dozens of other players went to drug rehab. Many were able to continue playing after short suspensions.

• Sport/League: College football
• When it occurred: 1976-1986

Finding it difficult to attract football players to play for their small Dallas school, Southern Methodist University recruiting staff began paying recruits in the late '70s. In 1986, after SMU was handed multiple probations for recruiting violations, an NCAA investigation showed that the school had a slush fund that paid out tens of thousands of dollars to some of the school's players every year. The team was forced to forgo the 1987 season.

• Sport/League: 1988 Olympic Games
• When it occurred: 1988

Light middleweight boxer Roy Jones, Jr. entered the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics favored to win the gold medal. He reached the final round undefeated, and landed 86 punches against his last opponent, South Korean boxer Park Si-Hun, who landed 32 punches in return. So when the judges released their 3-2 split vote favoring Park, even the referee was shocked. The three judges voting against Jones were investigated but eventually cleared of any wrongdoing.

• Sport/League: Various Olympiads
• When it occurred: 1974-1989

To demonstrate the supposed superiority of communism, East Germany initiated a state-sponsored doping program for its athletes in the late 1960s. Beginning in their teenage years and often without their knowledge, athletes were given steroids and hormones to enhance their physiques and performance. Following the country's remarkable 40 gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics, skeptics began to question their success. However, the full extent of the program was not uncovered until the 1990s.

• Sport/League: Major League Baseball
• When it occurred: 1989-1990

MLB's all-time hits leader, Pete Rose was known for his gambling problem. He was managing the Cincinnati Reds when he was investigated for betting on baseball – an allegation that he vehemently denied. Rose accepted a settlement that included a lifetime ban from the sport. In his 2004 autobiography, he finally admitted to betting on baseball, including on his own team.

• Sport/League: Major League Baseball
• When it occurred: 1990

George Steinbrenner, the owner of the New York Yankees, had a falling out with star player Dave Winfield over a foundation Winfield had started. To discredit Winfield, Steinbrenner paid $40,000 to Winfield's publicist and gambler, Howard Spira, to dig up dirt on the player. Spira then attempted to extort Steinbrenner. The scheme was eventually uncovered, leading to Steinbrenner suspension for 15 months.

• Sport/League: Figure skating
• When it occurred: 1994

In the leadup to the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and the 1994 Winter Olympics, an associate of figure skater Tanya Harding attacked skater Nancy Kerrigan, battering her knee in order to prevent her from being able to compete in the upcoming events. Kerrigan recovered and went on to compete in the olympics, while Harding competed as well before being permanently banned from skating.

• Sport/League: National Football League
• When it occurred: 1994-97, 2007

During a highly televised trial, retired running back O.J. Simpson was acquitted in 1994 of the double murder of his ex-wife and her friend. However, he was later found liable in a civil trial and ordered to pay over $33 million. His Heisman trophy was auctioned off to help cover the damages, while his associates scrambled to hide other memorabilia to prevent its sale. In 2007, Simpson was imprisoned for attempting to steal sports memorabilia from two dealers, claiming the items had been stolen from him.

• Sport/League: College football
• When it occurred: 1994-2012

An assistant football coach at Penn State University, Jerry Sandusky also founded a non-profit serving at-risk youth. Through this charity, Sandusky groomed and sexually assaulted young boys aged 8-12 from 1994 through 2009. In 2011, he was indicted on 52 counts of child molestation, and the following year was convicted on 45 counts and sentenced to at least 30 years in prison. Three Penn State officials were also found guilty of child endangerment after failing to report the allegations as they arose.

• Sport/League: Gymnastics
• When it occurred: 1997 to 2015

While serving as an athletic trainer for the U.S. women's national gymnastics team, doctor Larry Nassar sexually assaulted and abused hundreds of women and girls under the guise of performing medical treatments. Although athletes began reporting his behavior starting in 1997, USA gymnastics failed to take action until 2015. He was convicted in 2017 and sentenced to 60 years in prison.

• Sport/League: Olympic games
• When it occurred: 1986-1995

From 1986 through 1995, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) worked to secure Salt Lake City as the host for the Olympic games, eventually winning the bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics. However, allegations surfaced that the SLOC had bribed multiple members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with cash payments, campaign contributions, real estate deals, tuition assistance, and even prostitutes. As a result, ten members of the IOC were expelled.

• Sport/League: College basketball
• When it occurred: 1993-1999

The day before the 1999 NCAA Tournament, a news story broke that an academic counselor had been paid to do coursework for multiple University of Minnesota basketball players since 1993. In addition, staffers had intimidated teachers into changing grades to keep students eligible to play. The team's head coach, as well as an athletic director and the school's vice president all resigned, and the team sat out the 1999-2000 season.

• Sport/League: Paralympic games
• When it occurred: 2000

After Spain's basketball team won at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, an undercover journalist revealed that the team's members had not been tested for intellectual disabilities. As it turned out, 10 out of the 12 players were in fact not disabled, but were allowed to play so that Spain could win more medals. The team was disqualified and stripped of their gold medal. In 2013, the head of the Spanish Federation for Handicapped Sports was convicted of fraud over the incident.

• Sport/League: College basketball
• When it occurred: 2000

Bob Knight, head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers from 1971 to 2000, was infamous for his fiery temper and physical altercations with players, other coaches, and even a police officer. He was finally fired in 2000 when video evidence surfaced of him choking player Neil Reed in 1997, prompting the University to enforce a zero-tolerance policy. A former player's memoir released in 2016 further details numerous other abuses committed by the star coach.

• Sport/League: National Hockey League
• When it occurred: 2000

With only seconds left in the game, Boston Bruins player Marty McSorley intentionally slashed Vancouver Canucks player Donald Brashear in the right temple with his stick. The hit was so hard that Brashear fell and slammed his head on the ice, suffering a seizure and a severe concussion. McSorley was subsequently charged with assault and sentenced to probation – and his NHL career was effectively over.

• Sport/League: Little League Baseball
• When it occurred: 2001

As a Little League pitcher, Danny Almonte threw a no-hitter in the regional finals and got his Bronx team to the 2001 Little League World Series, which they placed third in. After an investigation, it was revealed that Almonte was two years over the age limit to play Little League. His father Felipe was banned from Little League competitions for life, and charged for falsifying Danny's birth certificate. Danny, who knew nothing of the falsified documents, was cleared of any wrongdoing.

• Sport/League: MLB, NFL, boxing, track and field
• When it occurred: 2002-2015

After an anonymous tipster sent the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency a sample of a previously untested-for steroid made at the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, the USADA uncovered that numerous athletes in track and field, Major League Baseball, boxing, and the NFL had been using undetected performance enhancing drugs. Two BALCO executives subsequently plead guilty to steroid distribution and money laundering.

• Sport/League: National Basketball League
• When it occurred: 2003

After staying at a hotel in Colorado, Lakers player Kobe Bryant was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a 19-year old hotel employee in his room. Bryant maintained that the encounter was consensual. When the accuser refused to testify in the criminal case, the charges were dropped. However, a civil case followed and was settled out of court. Bryant issued an apology acknowledging that he now understood the accuser did not view the encounter as consensual.

• Sport/League: College basketball
• When it occurred: 2003

After the 2003 murder of Baylor University basketball player Patrick Dennehy by one of his teammates, an investigation into the basketball program uncovered that head coach Dave Bliss had violated multiple NCAA rules by ignoring his players' illegal drug use and by paying multiple players' tuitions, including Dennehy's. Bliss resigned amidst the scandal, but not before asking his players to lie to cover up his involvement in the tuition payments.

• Sport/League: College football
• When it occurred: 2004-2005

The University of Southern California's Trojans football program was suspended for the 2010 and 2011 seasons after it came to light that USC failed to properly investigate funds and gifts given to star player Reggie Bush by a sports agent Lloyd Lake. The NCAA also vacated any wins that Bush participated in starting in December 2004, and Bush voluntarily forfeited his 2005 Heisman Trophy.

• Sport/League: Soccer
• When it occurred: 2006

Amidst false allegations of doping among players on the Italian soccer team Juventus, government investigators uncovered a different scandal: the fixing of Serie A league games. Juventus manager Luciano Moggi, along with a former referee nominator and other league managers, were found to be pressuring referees to favor certain teams. The referees complied out of fear of losing their jobs.

• Sport/League: National Football League
• When it occurred: 2007

In a scandal that the media dubbed "Spygate," the New England Patriots were caught illegally recording hand signals from an opposing team. This came after multiple teams had suspected the Patriots of spying. The NFL fined Patriots head coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and the team $250,000.

• Sport/League: National Football League
• When it occurred: 2007

In 2007, officials raided Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick's Virginia property and found dozens of pit bulls and evidence of dogfighting. Gruesome details soon emerged regarding the abuse and execution of dogs that did not perform well in fights. Once the highest paid player in the NFL, Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison and subsequently filed for bankruptcy.

• Sport/League: National Basketball Association
• When it occurred: 2007

After 13 years refereeing for the NBA, Tim Donaghy was accused of betting on games he officiated and manipulating the point spread. An FBI investigation revealed Donaghy was part of a scheme where he used codes to provide inside information to two bookies, who paid him for each winning pick. It was also discovered that he bet almost exclusively on games he officiated. Donaghy was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

• Sport/League: Car racing
• When it occurred: 2007

After not receiving a promotion, a chief mechanic at Ferrari took 780 pages of confidential information which amounted to the blueprints for the 2007 Ferrari F1 racing car, and handed them over to his friend at rival car company McLaren. When the friend's wife went to a copy shop to copy the blueprints, a suspicious employee contacted Ferrari and the scheme fell apart. McLaren was initially cleared of wrongdoing, but eventually fined $100 million and barred from the 2007 Constructors' Championship.

• Sport/League: Professional golf
• When it occurred: 2009

After thirteen years as a pro golfer, Tiger Woods was revered as the top player in the world. He appeared to have a great marriage and a happy life. Then, it came to light that he had been having an affair with a New York nightclub manager. After that, numerous women admitted that they also had been having sex with Woods, and he entered rehab for sex addiction. He and his wife divorced the following year.

• Sport/League: National Football League
• When it occurred: 2009-2012

From 2009 through the 2011-2012 playoffs, the New Orleans Saints operated a slush fund that rewarded players with bounties for injuring opponents. The NFL launched an investigation following reports that several Saints players had intentionally targeted quarterbacks Brett Favre and Kurt Warner to knock them out of games in return for bounties. The investigation confirmed the allegations, leading to suspensions for multiple Saints officials and managers.

• Sport/League: College basketball
• When it occurred: 2009-2017

In 2009, Cardinals coach Rick Pitino was the target of an extortion attempt after having sex with a woman in a restaurant. Then in 2015, the NCAA investigated the team after a madame claimed that she provided women to have sex with Louisville players and recruits. Pitino was eventually charged for failing to monitor the program. Then in 2017, he was placed on leave over allegations that an Adidas executive paid $100,000 to a recruit to play at Louisville and wear Adidas when he went pro.

• Sport/League: Cycling
• When it occurred: 2012

Famous for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times, Lance Armstrong was investigated for using performance enhancing drugs and found by the USADA to be culpable in 2012. He was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and his Olympic bronze medal. Armstrong eventually admitted to doping, and has been subject to a lifetime ban from sanctioned cycling events.

• Sport/League: National Football League
• When it occurred: 2012-2013

Aaron Hernandez, a tight end for the New England Patriots, was arrested and then convicted for the murder of his friend Odin Lloyd in 2013. Although Hernandez never admitted guilt, he faced a separate trial for the 2012 murders of two men outside a Boston nightclub. He was acquitted of these charges, but committed suicide in his jail cell just five days later.

• Sport/League: Olympic games
• When it occurred: 2008-present

Russia has lost 48 Olympic medals due to athletes testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. The state-sponsored doping of Olympic athletes has likely been going on for decades longer, but beginning in 2008, there has been substantial evidence of the program. The McLaren report, published by the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2016, concluded that over 1,000 Russian athletes benefited from the doping program from 2012-2015.

• Sport/League: Soccer
• When it occurred: 2015

In May 2015, seven FIFA officials were arrested in Zurich amid accusations of bribery, racketeering, money laundering, and wire fraud. FIFA subsequently imposed 90-day bans on three officials, including the then-president Sepp Blatter and his successor hopeful, Michel Platini. Additionally, eight sports and marketing executives pleaded guilty to the charges and forfeited millions of dollars.

• Sport/League: Olympic games
• When it occurred: 2016

After participating in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, four U.S. swimmers claimed that they were robbed at gunpoint in their cab outside of a gas station where they had stopped to use the bathroom. The true story soon emerged, however. The swimmers had urinated outside of the bathroom, vandalized the bathroom, then paid off the security guards who confronted them. All four were temporarily suspended by the U.S. Olympics Committee.

• Sport/League: Major League Baseball
• When it occurred: 2017

An MLB investigation uncovered a complex cheating scheme involving the Houston Astros, who used center field camera footage to intercept signs from opposing teams. This information was then relayed to a runner on second base, who signaled the batter about the upcoming pitch. Although the tactic was reportedly only used during the 2017 season, the scandal did not come to light until 2019.

• Sport/League: Soccer
• When it occurred: 2023

Just a year after facing corruption allegations, president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales came under fire for grabbing his crotch and kissing player Jennifer Hermoso on the lips after Spain won the Women's World Cup in August 2023. He resigned under pressure in September and was banned from soccer for three years.

• Sport/League: National Football League
• When it occurred: 2023

Following numerous sexual assault allegations against NFL players over the past decade, including Deshaun Watson, who faces accusations of sexual harassment or misconduct from over two dozen women, the NFL has updated its personal conduct policy. The new policy includes stricter penalties for players involved in sexual assaults that involve threats or coercion.