3 Biggest Football Frauds and Scandals in History

Football has grown into not only the world’s most popular sport but also a money-making machine with billions of dollars pouring in from all sides. It can be noted that it is in human nature to try to swindle and amass great wealth and power. This character flaw, as we might call it, is unfortunately deep-rooted in the world of professional football where teams and their management and players have a lot of money within grasp.

Sometimes, this temptation is hard to resist and many have succumbed to it, wreaking havoc in their wake. It is not uncommon to read about the transgressions that men of football have committed and that usually have to do with money and inappropriate behaviour. Pages like pitchinvasion.net offer football news that more often than not feature these occurrences, among other things such as promo codes, and keep you in the loop of the world of football. Our article will present top football frauds and scandals that shook the very foundations of the much-beloved game. Read on!

Calciopoli Scandal

One of the biggest scandals in football is named Calciopoli and had to do with the Italian Calcio football league which is deemed as one of the best ones in the world. What made it so significant were the parties involved. Namely, top Italian clubs were accused of fixing football games and influencing referees, which had lead to indictments for Juventus, AC Milan, and other clubs.

The pride and joy of Turin, Juventus, had been relegated to Serie B and stripped of its titles from 2005 and 2006. AC Milan was a bit more fortunate since they had to pay certain fines and faced point deduction, but was still able to keep their place in Serie A. This scandal had prompted football officials to look more closely into the matter and raise security around football fixtures and officiating.

Brazil Corruption Scandal at the 2014 World Cup

It is a well-known fact that football and politics go hand in hand, and this was clearly seen in the case of a corruption scandal that marred the 2014 Brazil World Cup. The graft scandal stemmed from rigging the dates related to the construction of all the facilities needed for the World Cup to take place. It was said to have been a coordinated action from to government officials that resulted in six of them resigning, prompting Brazil to look closely into the entire management of this sporting event.

Love Affairs

Believe it or not, love has caused its fair share of problems in the world of football as well. No other love scandal had echoed for a longer period of time and with that many consequences as the one involving former Chelsea and England’s national team player — John Terry. John Terry had allegedly slept with Vanessa, the wife of former Manchester City’s defender Wayne Bridge. Since then, he had been stripped of his captaincy, and Wayne Bridge refused to shake his hand at the game and play alongside him for the national team.

Another similar event occurred with Ryan Giggs and his brother’s wife. The couple allegedly had an affair, and that shattered Giggs and his family. This Manchester United legend had also had an affair that reached the Parliament when an MP publicly called him out when he attempted to put a gagging order on the reality star about their relationship.