The year, 2018, has witnessed some of the most beautiful moments in the sporting world. A young Naomi Osaka became the first Grand Slam winner from Japan, while football saw a tiny Croatia made it to their maiden FIFA World Cup final. One of the best joys in cricket was to watch MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings mark their return after a two-year suspension by winning the IPL 2018.
The year, 2018, has witnessed some of the most beautiful moments in the sporting world. A young Naomi Osaka became the first Grand Slam winner from Japan, while football saw a tiny Croatia made it to their maiden FIFA World Cup final. One of the best joys in cricket was to watch MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings mark their return after a two-year suspension by winning the IPL 2018.
However, the controversies have not been very far behind as 2018 has witnessed quite a few of those as well.
We bring you 9 controversies that have rocked the sporting world and will be remembered for a very long time:
1. Ball-tampering strikes Australia
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It turned out to be one of the biggest scandals in cricket in recent times when the Australian cricketer Cameron Bancroft was caught on the big screen tampering the ball. The incident took place during the Newlands Test in March against South Africa.
In the post-day press conference, then-Aussie skipper Steven Smith accepted the allegations and he, his deputy David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were handed severe punishments. While Warner and Smith were given a year's ban each, Bancroft was handed a nine-month ban. Read FULL STORY here.
(PC: AFP)
2. The Mr & Mrs Shami's issues turn ugly
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Indian cricketer Mohammed Shami had a tough time at the beginning of the year when his wife Hasin Jahan shared some WhatsApp chats of her husband accusing her of adultery. Shami was then accused of corruption, physical & mental abuse and a lot more. This had forced the Indian cricket board, BCCI, to revoke the cricketer's central contract.
However, an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Unit got Shami cleared of the corruption charges and that brought him back in the Indian team. For the other charges, Kolkata Police is still investigating. Read FULL STORY here.
(PC: Facebook)
3. Cristiano Ronaldo accused of rape!
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Post the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo broke a bomb in the footballing circles when he announced his move from his long-term club Real Madrid to Juventus. But, even before Ronaldo could have settled down in Italy, his personal and professional life took for a toss when he was accused of raping a US-based former model Kathryn Mayorga in 2009 when the two met in Las Vegas.
While the footballer's lawyers have termed it to be 'consensual', a certain document with the German publication Der Speigel claimed otherwise. With the probe still underway, while he is still playing for Juventus, his national team Portugal have not included him in any of their recent matches. Read the FULL STORY here.
(PC: Twitter)
4. #MeToo strikes in India and BCCI
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The #MeToo storm struck India this year which exposed several high-profile names in various industries. One of the famous names accused of sexual assault was BCCI CEO Rahul Johri, whose name was taken by but two separate women.
The CoA set up a three-member panel and their report cleared off the accusations against Johri terming them as fabricated and manufactured. Read FULL STORY here.
(PC: File Photo)
5. US Open 2018: Serena's meltdown!
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US Open 2018 will always be remembered for Serena Williams' meltdown and not a young Naomi Osaka's maiden Grand Slam victory. In the final, Serena got involved in a spat with the referee who penalised her for taking tips from her coach,
Serena went on a rant as she accused him of sexism alleging that the same would've never happened to a male Tennis player. Serena even accused Ramos of being 'a thief' as he deducted a point on seeing the tennis player break her racquet in frustration. Read FULL STORY here.
(PC: Reuters)
6. ISL's age fraud!
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When Jamshedpur FC's Gaurav Mukhi, who claimed to be 16, scored a goal against Bengaluru FC in an Indian Super League (ISL) match in October, the footballer was announced as the ‘ISL's youngest-ever goal-scorer’.
However, later on in a shocking revelation, it was known that Mukhi was 28! According to report, Mukhi had been sanctioned by the All India Football Federation for previously having admitted to being over-age and the player’s Facebook page at the time indicated that he was born on April 5, 1999. Read FULL STORY here.
(PC: ISL)
7. Kohli's 'leave India' comment
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On his 30th birthday, Virat Kohli launched his official app and during the event, the Indian skipper was asked to read out a few messages on social media. One of the messages was about a fan's disliking of Kohli and other Indian cricketers.
An impatient Indian skipper asked the fan to leave India and live in some other country because he did not like Indian cricketers. This sparked major controversy and the Indian skipper saw himself on the receiving end of several angry personalities and fans. Read FULL STORY here.
(PC: ScreenGrab)
8. India drops Mithali ahead of WWT20 semi-final
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It all began when Mithali Raj was dropped from the Indian side for the ICC Women's World T20 semi-final against England. It aggravated when Team India crashed out of the tournament after a loss to England before Mithali accused then Indian women's coach Ramesh Powar of being biased to other players.
Mithali wrote a letter to the BCCI explaining the happenings during the ICC tournament in the West Indies. While the letter got leaked to media, Powar and Mithali exchanged heated words on the social media. Although India's T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and her deputy, Smriti Mandhana, supported Powar, the BCCI did not renew his contract that terminated with the end of India's World T20 campaign. Read the FULL STORY here.
(PC: Twitter)
9. Presenter asks female Ballon D'or winner: Can you twerk?
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The 2018 Ballon d'Or was one of the rare occasions in recent times when the winner was not Lionel Messi or Ronaldo because it was Croatian and Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric who bagged the award.
However, the event well could be remembered for a very wrong thing. In the inaugural women's Ballon d'Or, the winner Ada Hegerberg was asked if she knows how to twerk by the presenter. Although he apologised later to Hegerberg clarifying that he only meant it as a joke, even tennis star Andy Murray had commented on the controversy calling it 'unreal' sexism.
(PC: Reuters)
