From murder to sexism: 5 scandals that absolutely shamed football as a sport

Football and scandals have a definite history that dates back to its origin. There have been uncountable controversies that have engulfed the world’s most followed sport. Scandals have ranged from prostitution to match-fixing, and also from somebody being killed to others facing racism and sexism related problems. InUth lists 5 certain scandals that have previously shocked the entire football fraternity.

1. Escobar murder scandal

Colombian footballer Andres Escobar quickly shot to fame after helping Atletico Nacional lift the Copa Libertadores in 1989. His heroics soon earned him an entry into the national squad. The Cafeteros defender was handed the Colombian captaincy for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The 1994 World Cup turned out to be a disaster for Colombia as crashed out of the competition in the group stage. For an outfit who were considered as one of the tournament favourites, to fail to qualify for the knockouts was absolutely shocking and somewhat unbearable for fans.

During the campaign, Colombia came up against the United States of America in their second game, and unfortunately, Escobar scored an own goal in that match. Days later, he was caught up in a nightclub parking space verbal duel and was subsequently shot and killed. The killer allegedly shouted the word – ‘GOL’ after immediately murdering Andres who was only 27 at the time of his death. The culprit was sentenced to prison for a period of 43 years, but he was released after serving 11 years due to him maintaining a good behaviour during his time there.

(Video: YouTube/Matapoliisit19)

2. Ribery and Benzema prostitution scandal

In 2010, French media claimed that Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery and Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema reportedly were clients of an underage sex worker named Zahia Dehar in 2008 and 2009. Benzema at first denied such claims, while Ribery admitted to having sex though he stated that he had no clue about the sex worker’s age. At that time, Dehar was supposedly aged 16 and 17. Penalties of up to three years in jail in addition to a fine of $55,000 was being touted after an investigation.

Later in 2014, the French veterans faced trial in court for having paid an underage girl for sex. While prostitution is not illegal in France, underage prostitution certainly was. Zahia, prostitute turned model and fashion designer claimed that both Ribery and Benzema were unaware of the fact that she was not above the age of 18 at that time and also that she did not see herself as a victim of the case. Thus the allegation charges were finally dropped.

3. Carvalho match-fixing scandal

In 2005, FIFA referee Edilson Pereira de Carvalho was found guilty of receiving $4,400 from certain investors for match-fixing the Brazillian game between Juventude and Figueirens. Upon further investigations, it was discovered that the Brazilian official had fixed not one but 11 fixtures, after being approximately paid between $2800 and $4200 per match.

Edilson claimed in court that he had not fixed all the matches in question, but the Brazilian Supreme Court nullified the results of the fixtures in question and asked for scheduling of replays which was not at all received well by the Brazilian clubs. Due to the new results of the games that were replayed, Corinthians and not Internacional were crowned champions in the Brazilian league. This referee case is also known as the ‘Whistle scandal’.

(Video: YouTube/Diego97396)

4. Keys and Gray sexism scandal

Sian Louise Massey-Ellis who is an English assistant referee did not expect her Premier League welcome to mark off with sexism taunts but it unfortunately did. Then Sky Sports commentators Richard Keys and Andy Gray apparently made questionable sexist comments on Massey-Ellis. When off-air audio records went public, it revealed that Keys and Grey were criticising the lady official’s role in the 2010 Premier League encounter between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool.

Reportedly, Keys and Gray made comments such as “Get down there and explain offside to her” and “The game has gone mad”, and also calling her as “poppet”. Richard Keys resigned from his position as a broadcaster after their comments started taking the internet by storm while Andy Gray’s contract was terminated with immediate effect.

5. Terry racism scandal

Chelsea football club skipper John Terry who is regarded as Stamford Bridge’s ‘Captain, Leader, Legend’ has seen decisions go against him both on and off the field. The 35-year-old defender was found guilty of racially abusing Rio Ferdinand’s brother Anton Ferdinand by FA. Terry allegedly said “f***ing black c***”, the English FA claimed after an investigation and a hearing. This was an abusive and insulting racist slur with a reference to a particular ethnic origin and thus was completely not acceptable. John apparently said this during the Premier League clash between Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea at the Loftus Road back in 2011.

Terry was subsequently banned for four competitive games and also charged with a fine of £220,000 in 2012. The Terry-Ferdinand saga ended with John Terry being stripped of the Three Lions’ captaincy which also resulted in then England boss Fabio Capello quitting. The incident stained Terry controversial reputation once again, fans all over England still boo the world-class defender during fixtures.