Major Controversies That Shook The Sports World in 2018

We have come across some beautiful sporting moments this year but there had been a relentless wave of controversies too. Some cricketers have mired their names in scandals, some got into ugly spats and what not. Of course, there were retributions too. This year, however marks the golden year of Indian sports because Hima Das made our country proud in the global forefront. When a young Japanese woman Naomi Osaka became the first Grand Slam Winner, female athletes conjured courage to break barriers in India too. Hima Das’s win definitely was a landmark one where she became the first Indian woman to win Gold at the IAAF World under 20 Athletics Championship in Tampere, Finland. However, talking about the controversies, here under are some major ones that shook the sports world in 2018:

Mithali Raj vs Ramesh Powar:

Mithali Raj was ousted from the playing XI team of the ICC Women’s World 20 semi-final against England last month. This made India to lose the match by nine wickets. Hence, Raj lashed out at Edulji and coach Ramesh powar in a letter to the BCCI, letter being leaked in the media. In this letter Mithali accused Raj of bias and Powar putting her down.

 

 

Towards late October, BCCI CEO Rahul Johri got his name mired in sexual assault controversy. This accusation was brought upon him by an anonymous woman who sent the complaint to CoA member Diana Edulji. However, after an investigation panel probing into the situation, Johri got acquitted.

Rape charges on Christiano Ronaldo:

A US based former model Kathryn Mayorga accused Ronaldo of raping her in a hotel room in 2009. It happened in Las Vegas, as claimed by the model and she went on to file a lawsuit against Ronaldo also. Of course, this scandal took the sports world by storm because this preceded UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid. The Football lawyers termed what happened between them is ‘consensual’.

 

 

 

First Female Ballon D’or Ada Hergerberg’s Twerk Scandal:

Sports fans rejoiced Ada Hergerberg achieving Best Woman Soccer Player trophy in the world. But on stage while receiving the trophy, when the presenter asked her if she knew how to twerk, she got infuriated. However, the presenter Martin Solveig later apologized and said he just meant to tread a joke.

 

These were the major sports controversies of 2018.