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Pakistan's spot-fixing scandal in England - 2010
Some could say this was Pakistan cricket's darkest moment in a long time. The Pakistani team was in a 4-match Test series with the English with the hosts leading 2-1 going into the fourth Test at Lord's. With a chance to level the series, after their win in the third Test, many thought Pakistan would take the fight to the English in London.
Instead, the world saw how a nefarious plot to influence betting was hatched between Pakistani players and sports agent Mazhar Majeed that would see Pakistani players deliberately deliver no-balls during the match.
The now defunct News of the World launched an elaborate sting operation to learn that on Majeed's instructions, Mohammad Amir would bowl the third over of the match and the first delivery would be a no-ball.
Lo and behold, Amir overstepped by a mile and the prediction came true. Majeed also said that Mohammad Asif would get the 10th over and the final delivery would be a no-ball. Once again, like the soothsayer in Julius Caesar, his words came through.
The explosive expose sent shockwaves across the cricketing world and got Scotland Yard involved in the proceedings. Majeed was arrested for attempting to defraud bookmakers while Amir, Asif and then captain Salman Butt were all found guilty and received prison sentences while also being banned by the ICC from taking part in any cricketing events. Asif and Butt were banned for 7 years while Amir was banned for 5 on the account that he confessed.
The incident raised questions about a plethora of Pakistan matches which could have had similar incidents of fixing and Pakistani cricket has been under a magnifying glass ever since.
Russian state-sponsored doping scandal - 2010 onwards
This one is probably the biggest scandal in terms of magnitude simply because of the number of athletes and sports affected by it. Suspicions about Russian athletes using Performance Enhancing Drugs had been around for years, and this was brought to light when German channel ARD released a documentary.
That documentary claimed that the Russian state was neck-deep in an operation that involves state-sponsored doping and covering up positive tests in their World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) accredited lab.
The Russian Anti Doping Agency (RUSADA) denied the allegations put forward but that didn't stop WADA from setting up a commission to investigate the Russian Federation. Moscow tried to cover it up by dismissing Grigory Rodchenkov, head of the Moscow lab, who ended up becoming a whistleblower and revealing to the New York Times how the Russian Federation, led by sports minister Vitaly Mutko was participating in systematic doping and falsifying samples primarily to perform well at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
WADA brought in Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren to investigate the allegations brought forward by Rodchenkov and in 2016 his report concluded that there was overwhelming evidence against the Russians.
The Russians were accused of tampering with urine samples to get positive tests and WADA subsequently suggested they be banned from the 2016 Olympic games before the International Olympic Committee (IOC) turned that notion down and Russian athletes featured at the Olympic Games in Rio. Out of a total of 379 athletes, the IOC only gave clearance to 268 of them while the remaining 111 were removed by the IAAF.
After the Games and the 2018 FIFA World Cup held in the country, Russia was ordered to hand over all data from their labs and after missing deadlines and tampering with information, WADA declared Russia non-compliant and in 2019 banned them from taking part in any sporting events including the 2019 World Athletics Championships, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as well as the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. They have also been banned from hosting any major sporting events as a result of the scandal.
Calciopoli scandal - 2006
The final scandal on this list is a biggie that sent shockwaves through Italian football. It all started when an ongoing investigation into an agency called GEA World by the police for doping in Italian football led prosecutors to find a cache of phone call recordings between top executives from teams like Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio, Fiorentina and Reggina and the referee designators in the Italian top-flight.
While Calciopoli is considered by many a match-fixing scandal, in actuality it was more of a situation where the bigwigs at clubs would try and pick certain referees to influence games and get favourable results from them.
Juventus general managers Luciano Moggi and Antonio Giraudo were recorded having conversations during the 2004-05 season where they would discuss the different officials. There was even an instance where the pair spoke about legendary referees Pierluigi Collina and Roberto Rosetti, seeking punishment on account of them being 'too objective'.
In July of 2006, Stefano Palazzi, the Italian Football federation's main prosecutor suggested Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina all be demoted to the second division with varying points penalties as a punishment. This was appealed extensively but when the dust settled, Juventus were given the harshest punishment of all the sides involved.
Moggi and Giraudo were found guilty of creating a system to change the outcome of games with the help of referee designators in Serie A. The Bianconeri was relegated to Serie B, stripped off the tow Serie A titles it won in 2004-05 and 2005-06. The 05-06 title was given to Inter Milan instead. Juventus also had 9 points deducted going into the 2006-07 season. Moggi was banned for life while Giraudo was fined €20,000 and banned from football for 5 years.
Milan had 8 points deducted from the 2006-07 season and a staggering 30 points from the 2005-06 campaign. In addition to that, they also had to play one match behind closed doors. Lazio were docked 3 points from the 2006-07 season and had to play two matches behind closed doors aside from being removed from the UEFA Cup (now Europa League).
Fiorentina were docked 15 points from the 2006-7 season, had to play two matches behind closed doors and were removed from the UEFA Champions League. Reggina were handed a 9 point deduction and a fine of €20,000 was imposed.
Calciopoli was a wake up call for football fans in Italy and across Europe. It led to a mass exodus at Juventus as the Old Lady prepared for life in the second division. Many would argue that the Calciopoli scandal marked the beginning of the end of the Serie A's unnerving relevance in world football.
What was once considered the best league in the world had seen its name dragged through the mud by its best teams. While Italy winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup did serve as a soothing ointment, the scars left by the Calciopoli scandal were never truly eradicated.
