7 worst sports scandals of all time

Sports cheating scandals run the gamut from athletes using performance-enhancing drugs to get a jump on the competition too much more violent indiscretions where players intentionally harm each other.Of course, when anyone cheats in sports, they let down their teammates, but many fans also take it personally when they discover that their favourite athlete or team hasn't been playing by the rules. Fans feel betrayed when a cheating scandal breaks. Here are the 7 worst sports scandals of all time.

Lance Armstrong

After years of angrily denying doping accusations (even under oath), 7-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, 41, admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs when he rode for the U.S. Postal Service Pro-Cycling Team, during an exclusive interview with Oprah Winfrey. He was stripped of his titles and forbidden to compete. Now, Armstrong is under pressure to name other athlete accomplices, and pay back part of his $30 million sponsorship paycheck from the federal government. Not to mention, the reputation of his charity is basically shot to hell. Maybe he should trade his yellow bracelets for silver handcuffs.

Danny Almonte

Now a simple assistant coach at James Monroe High School, Danny Almonte used to be the subject of much criticism. In 2001, he absolutely dominated the Little League World Series. He was out of their league; unfortunately, this was literal.Amidst much speculation, it was finally revealed that Almonte was actually three years older than he should have been and claimed to be. Though this may not sound like much, it is the single biggest scandal in Little League baseball history and may have cost him a career in MLB.

2002 Paralympic Spanish basketball team

Cheating at the Paralympics is a disgraceful thing to do, yet I think many a fan would be astonished at how often it happens. Perhaps none were as shocking as the 2000 Paralympic Spanish basketball team.The Spanish team had won the gold medal in the basketball tournament, and for a while, it was deemed an honest and good victory. Yet a Spanish journalist revealed to the managers of the tournament that most of the players on the Spanish team had not been checked for a mental disability.In fact, after further investigation, it was revealed that 10 out of the 12 players were in fact not mentally disabled; Spain had just wanted to win a gold medal.

Pete Rose

Pete Rose was undoubtedly one of baseball's best players of all time. Thus, he had made a lot of money. Yet he still felt the need to bet, which eventually led to his demise, and to the fact that he is permanently banned from MLB and the Hall of Fame ballot.After years of saying the accusations were senseless and false, more and more evidence piled up until, in the '80s, commissioner Peter Ueberroth asked Rose to take a voluntary ban from MLB if he promised to cease investigations on how much Rose gambled.What made Rose's gambling worse was the fact that was later revealed that stated he bet on Reds games while being their manager.

2002 Olympics Saltlake city

Salt Lake had wanted to host the Winter Olympics four straight times and was getting increasingly frustrated. It felt as if it had a perfect place and that it wasn't getting its due because other American cities had hosted years prior.In 1998, though, in the bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics, IOC members had a drastic change of mind, and Salt Lake won the voting by a landslide. Though somewhat weird, Salt Lake City has very nice ski slopes and seemed like an ideal place, so many ignored the change of minds.Yet it was later revealed that the spokespeople for the Salt Lake City Team had bribed several highly ranked IOC members into voting for them. The Olympics, perhaps the sanctuary for all things sports, doing this left a mark on a number of people.

Hand of God

During the 1986 World Cup, Argentine Diego Maradona scored the most controversial and scandalous goal in soccer history. This match was a quarterfinal encounter between Argentina and England.At 0-0 in the 51st minute, Maradona, arguably the greatest footballer ever, received a pass in front of goal—he proceeded to tap the ball in with his hand.The ref, Tunisian Ali Bin Nasser, did not blow his whistle, and the goal stood. Diego went on to score another, and Argentina won the match and eventually the tournament for the second time in three Cups.Maradona later admitted to cheating and gave his hand the name "Hand of God."

Michael Vick

Vick is now one of the flashiest players in the league, but just two years ago he was finishing off his 21-month sentence in federal prison.In 2007, Vick was implicated in a dog fighting ring scandal that had apparently been going on for five years. Numerous dogs of Vick's were killed, and many more harmed and destroyed mentally beyond belief.It was huge when Vick was arrested, and it shocked the NFL world. When he was eligible to play again, his former team, the Falcons, like many others, refused to take in the convict.The Eagles were one of few that accepted him, and though he started as a third-stringer, he came into the season as an MVP favourite.