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Football is arguably the most popular sport in the world. From Asia to Europe, many nations have national teams for football. Along with the national competitions and friendly matches, club football is very popular as well. This form of the game is very lucrative as well. Billions love this sport and even worship it. Though this sport is very respected throughout the globe. But you will be surprised to know about the huge number of scandals related to the sport. From players to club owners, every section has a fair share of scandals. So, in this article, we will discuss the most controversial scandals in football.

10 Biggest Football Scandals

Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema, and the Underage Prostitute Zahia Dehar

Image Source: The Independent

Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema, and Sidney Govou are well-known footballers. Among them, Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema are legends of French football. Franck Ribery a magician on the field, came very close to winning a Ballon d’Or, one of the most prestigious individual awards in football.

On the other hand, the legendary striker Karim Benzema won Ballon d’Or in 2022. This Real Madrid legend is an icon of football. But a few years back the sports world was shaken with the news of them. Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema, and Sidney Govou were alleged to have had sex with a young prostitute, named Zahia Dehar.

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Wayne Rooney's Affair with Jenny Thomson

Image Source: Mid Day

Along with the legendary French players, England has also had some of the most controversial scandals. Every football fan knows the name of Wayne Rooney. English National is a record breaker. He even led the national team. But Machester United’s one of the biggest name Rooney also made headlines for a scandal.

Wayne Rooney was accused of having intercourse with a female escort when his wife Coleen Rooney was pregnant. This allegation affected the player dearly. The Forward even lost form for a few months. Which affected his contract as well.

Calciopoli Scandal (2006)

Image Source: Forbes

The Calciopoli Scandal is no doubt a watershed event in football history. It caused a great downfall in Italian football. Some of the biggest clubs of Italian football got punished due to this. This scandal was related to the involvement of numerous elite Italian teams allegedly influencing the selection of referees for their matches among other things. Even the Serie A champion, Juventus lost their title and were demoted to Serie B.

Murder of Andres Escobar

Image Source: The Sun

Football is a game of passion but if the zeal is extreme, then it can cause some serious problems. One fine example of this is the murder of Andres Escobar. In 1994, the Colombian football team was eliminated from the World Cup due to an own goal, scored by the defender Andres Escobar. Soon after, he was murdered.

It is alleged that the murder was the result of the loss. Some also suspect that the drug dealers were behind the killing.

Dani Alves Sexually Assaulting

Image Source: Marca.com

One of the most refined defenders is Dani Alves. Brazilian legend is known for his extravagance and cool deminer. But even he was temporarily under arrest in Spain. Dani was reported to police for sexually abusing a lady in a Barcelona nightclub. He completely denied any misconduct and insisted that everything was consensual.

Alves was found guilty of sexual assault in February 2024 and was given a sentence of four and a half years in prison.

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Bruno Fernandes' Love Affair

Image Source: Daily Express

It is one of the most tragic tales of football, which caused a murder. But we are not talking about Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United. This is about another Bruno. According to the reports, Bruno Fernandes 's ex-girlfriend, Eliza Samudio became pregnant at their first meeting, and she chose to retain the child.

But it angered Bruno Fernandes. Thus, he planned the murder of Eliza Samudio. In this heinous crime, he was helped by retired policeman Santos. Despite being one of Brazil's best goalkeepers, Bruno’s career went downhill from this incident. This was arguably the worst football scandal in history.

Israeli Team's Prostitute Scandal

Image Source: Sports Dunia

European playoffs are important for any playing nation. But what can be done, when the players follow the path of pleasure? This is what happened when the news surfaced that the Israeli team had invited call girls to their hotel in Israel before the match and to Copenhagen before the second leg.

After this Israel lost their European playoff match against Denmark 8-0 on aggregate. Even the manager of the team, Shlomo Scharf announced his resignation.

Police arrest former Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu

Image Source: Business Insider

The former president of Barcelona, Josep Bartomeu was detained after the team experienced financial difficulties, which caused a wave in the sports world. The situation worsened when it was found that the former president had engaged a social media company to criticize the players and personnel of the team.

It was early in March of 2021 when Catalan authorities invaded Camp Nou as Barcelona was drowning in debt totaling more than one billion euros. The financial scandal had terrible effects on Barcelona. Even they lost the fan favourite Lionel Messi. Because of these financial problems, the signing of players' contracts was also challenging at that time.

Referee Robert Hoyzer's Fixing

Image Source: DW

Germans are very passionate about football. They worship the sport. But the country was shaken when the report of a match-fixing was reported. It was about German referee Robert Hoyzer. The German football federation suspected German referee Robert Hoyzer of manipulating a Cup match involving Hamburg, which put him under investigation.

Robert Hoyzer had originally refused the accusation, but he later acknowledged that he was at fault and pledged to give the investigation his full cooperation. This made him the most hated referee in Germany. This also marred the image of the sport. It causes future suspicion of the referee.

Florentino Perez blasts Real Madrid legends

Image Source: Sports Dunia

In the history of club football, Real Madrid is arguably the most successful and popular. Spanish giant has worldwide fan following. Many promising young football players aspire to join and play for Real Madrid. Christiano Ronaldo to Zinadene Zidane, legends have worn the jersey of this club.

And one of the most dividing faces of the club is Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. But a few years back, Florentino Perez’s name made headlines after his leaked audio tapes. In these recordings, he called Mourinho and Ronaldo "idiots" and "abnormal". This incident greatly angered Los Blancos’ fans.

The tapes from the 2006 leaks first came to light in July of 2021. Speaking of Cristiano Ronaldo, Perez said, "Ronaldo is crazy. The guy is an idiot; he's sick. You think this guy is normal, but he's not. If he was, he wouldn't do all the things he does."

Conclusion

Thus these 10 incidents are without the most controversial of scandals in football. Each of these stories created a fuss between the fans and the media. Football enjoys great popularity among the masses. As a result, most of the fans and football enthusiasts hope that this kind of thing never happen again. From murders, and leaked tapes to underage sex, these are the ten of the most controversial scandals in the history of football.

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