Famous Sports Controversies

For an incident to count as a sports controversy, it must have an element that affected the outcome of a game or someone's career. Cheaters such as Tonya Harding or baseball's alleged steroid users are not controversial for long. That said, there are many real controversies to consider.

  1. Diego Maradona's Hand of God

    • In 1986, Argentina and England faced each other in the World Cup quarterfinal. Six minutes into the second half, Argentina's Diego Maradona punched a ball into the goal. The referee missed this clear infraction of the rules. Argentina went on to win the 1986 World Cup. Maradona later described the goal as coming "a little from the head of Maradona and a little from the hand of God," which led to widely-used nickname.

    Native American Mascots

    • Sports teams at all levels of competition feature the names and likenesses of Native American groups as their mascots. On the pro level, the Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves and Washington Redskins are the most prominent examples. Many Native American groups find these nicknames and mascot symbols insensitive or offensive. In response, the National Collegiate Athletic Association asked its members schools with Native American mascots to replace them. While many schools complied, Florida State was still using the Seminole nickname and logo as of 2011. The Florida Seminole tribe gave the school its official permission.

    Pete Rose's Legacy

    • Pete Rose, who became baseball's all-time leading hitter in 1985, was easily on track to a berth in the Baseball Hall of Fame. But Rose was banned from baseball for life in 1989 for allegedly betting on baseball games while he was a manager for the Reds. Rose denied the charges for years, but finally admitted in 2004 that he did place baseball bets, but never against his own team. As of 2011, the Rose was still banned from the game and the Hall.

    Al Campanis' Mouth

    • Al Campanis's remarks on "Nightline" in 1987 remain among the most famous and unfortunate comments about race by any sports executive. The comments carried extra weight since they came from a representative of the Dodgers, the organization that brought Jackie Robinson into major league baseball. Campanis said the reason professional baseball lacked any blacks in upper management positions was "they may not have some of the necessities to be, let's say, a field manager, or, perhaps, a general manager." Two days later Campanis was forced out of his position as general manager of the Dodgers.

    Ali's Stripped Title

    • In 1964, Muhammed Ali was excused from the draft due to his poor writing and spelling abilities. In 1966, he was suddenly reclassified due to a rules change. Ali publicly declared himself a conscientious objector due to his religion. Ali was arrested, and the New York State Athletic Commission stripped him of his world heavyweight championship and his boxing license. In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed his draft-dodging conviction. Ali got his license back but had to get his title back in the ring.