Harshest Punishments in Sports History

An athlete's fall from grace can be as compelling as the games. But the penalties don't always fit the crime.

Watching an athlete fall from grace has always fascinated sports fans. As much as we like to see heroes built up, we get obsessed with seeing them torn down.

In many cases, the penalties for wrongdoing are appropriate and fair. But sometimes the results can be a severe miscarriage of justice.

These are the harshest punishments in sports history.

50. Damm Makes MMA History With Suspension

MMA fighter Carina Damm. carinadamm / Instagram

Sport: Mixed Martial Arts

Year: 2008

Punishment: MMA fighter Carina Damm was fined $2,500 and suspended for one year by the California State Athletic Commission.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: Carina Damm made the wrong kind of history when she became the first woman fighter to test positive for anabolic steroids following her submission win over Sofia Bagherdai.

In 2013, Damm was suspended again, this time for six months for submitting a fake urine sample after a fight in Ohio.

Damm, the younger sister of UFC fighter Rodrigo Damm, found a fallback plan in her native Brazil and fought during the duration of her bans from fighting in the United States.

49. NFL Slams Patriots for Deflategate

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Elise Amendola / AP Photo

Sport: Football

Years: 2016

Punishment: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell fined the New England Patriots $1 million, took away first- (2016) and fourth-round draft picks (2017), and suspended star quarterback Tom Brady for the first four games of the 2015 season. Goodell determined Brady and several Patriots employees deflated balls below the limit allowed by the rules in the 2014 AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts.

Level of penalty: Too harsh

Bottom line: Brady’s suspension was meant to be for the beginning of the 2015 season, but he didn’t serve it until 2016 after a lengthy appeals process that went all the way to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Brady sat out the first four games of 2016, then returned to lead the Patriots to the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history against the Atlanta Falcons.

Goodell’s punishment came under massive scrutiny in light of other suspensions around the same time — most notably two games for Baltimore’s Ray Rice for assaulting his fiance.

48. Guns in Locker Room Shake NBA

Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas. Evan Vucci / AP Photo

Sport: Basketball

Year: 2010

Punishment: Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas was suspended for 50 games by the NBA.

Level of penalty: Not harsh enough

Bottom line: Three-time All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas built his reputation on being an electric scorer on the court and for his quirky behavior off the court.

That took a dark turn in the Wizards’ locker room in December 2010 when Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton, arguing over a gambling debt, both reportedly had unarmed guns on display.

Arenas mocked the incident several days later, and the NBA stepped in to suspend him indefinitely. Crittenton was convicted of murder in 2015 and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

47. Vontaze Burfict Ignores NFL’s Warnings

Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict. Rick Scuteri / AP Photo

Sport: Football

Year: 2019

Punishment: Oakland Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict was suspended for 12 games by the NFL.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: Pro Bowl linebacker Vontaze Burfict’s history of illegal hits dates back to his high school days in Corona, California, and he will ultimately go down as one of the dirtiest players in NFL history.

What’s the evidence? In eight seasons, Burfict has been suspended for a total of 19 games for illegal hits, plus another four games for using performance-enhancing drugs.

In Week 4 of the 2019 NFL season, Burfict received one of the longest suspensions in NFL history — 12 games — for “repeated violations of unnecessary roughness rules.”

46. Vicious Attack Shocks NBA

Golden State Warriors guard Latrell Sprewell. Susan Ragan / AP Photo

Sport: Basketball

Year: 1997

Punishment: Golden State Warriors forward guard/forward Latrell Sprewell was suspended for 68 games by the NBA.

Level of penalty: Not harsh enough

Bottom line: Latrell Sprewell had a history of violence with his Warriors teammates, bringing a two-by-four into the gym to attack teammate Jerome Kersey and getting in a brutal fistfight with Byron Houston.

His behavior was glossed over because he was a four-time All-Star, but it couldn’t be overlooked after he viciously attacked head coach P.J. Carlesimo, choking him out on the practice floor and then returning from the locker room to punch him in the face.

The Warriors tried to void the remaining three years and $23 million on his contract, but Sprewell appealed, won, and was traded to the Knicks.

45. Hapes Pays the Price for Coming Clean

Scottyrocks / Wikimedia Common

Sport: Football

Year: 1946

Punishment: New York Giants fullback Merle Hapes was banned for life from the NFL.

Level of penalty: Too harsh

Bottom line: New York Giants fullback Merle Hapes and quarterback Frank Filchock were approached by gambler Alvin Paris and offered $3,500 each to fix the 1946 NFL title game against the Chicago Bears. Hapes went to the authorities and told them about the bribe. Filchock denied the offer.

As a result, Hapes was suspended indefinitely by the NFL for associating with gamblers, and Filchock was allowed to play in the game. Hapes moved to Canada to play for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League and won the Grey Cup in 1953.

He was reinstated in 1954 but never played in the NFL again.

44. Troicki’s Refusal Proves Costly

Tennis player Viktor Troicki. Bernat Armangue / AP Photo

Sport: Tennis

Year: 2013

Punishment: Viktor Troicki was suspended from tennis for 18 months by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: Serbian tennis star Viktor Troicki refused to turn in a blood sample as part of the ITF’s anti-doping program at the 2013 Monte Carlo Masters despite already turning in a urine sample.

Troicki’s reason for not giving up the blood sample was that he was “unwell,” and he provided a blood sample the next day. He also tried to say that the official administering the tests didn’t advise him properly, although that was also proven to be untrue.

The ITF didn’t go easy on the former world overall No. 12 player, but did reduce his suspension from 18 months to one year.

43. ‘Flash’ Watches Career Fade Away

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon. Marc Serota / AP Photo

Sport: Football

Years: 2014-2017

Punishment: Wide receiver Josh Gordon was suspended by the NFL for 11 games in 2014, all of the 2015 and 2016 seasons and 11 games in 2017.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: Josh Gordon’s struggles with substance abuse began in high school and continued during his college career at Baylor, where he was kicked off the team after being found passed out in a Taco Bell drive-through.

Gordon still made the NFL with the Cleveland Browns in 2012 as a 21-year-old wide receiver with great athletic skills. After serving a two-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy in 2013, he returned to the Browns and led the league in receiving in just 14 games and was named first-team All-Pro.

But Gordon’s addiction issues sidelined him for all but eight games between 2014 and 2017, including all of the 2015 and 2016 seasons. And he continues to battle substance issues and bounce around the league.

42. Lorz Tries to Steal Olympic Gold in Marathon

Olympic distance runner Frederick Lorz. AP Photo

Sport: Distance running

Year: 1904

Punishment: Runner Frederick Lorz banned for life by Amateur Athletic Union.

Level of penalty: Too harsh

Bottom line: Frederick Lorz was a bricklayer by trade and earned a reputation for training for competitions by running at night throughout New York City.

Lorz qualified for the marathon in the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis but grew tired about nine miles into the race. His manager picked him up and drove him 11 miles, where he started running again to the stadium, entered the track and crossed the finish line as if he’d won the gold medal.

When complaints began to pour in that he hadn’t finished the race, Lorz confessed and called it a “joke,” and Thomas Hicks was declared the winner.

Lorz was reinstated the next year after apologizing for the stunt and won the Boston Marathon in 1905.

41. NFL Stars Suspended for Gambling

Green Bay Packers halfback Paul Hornung. File photo / AP Photo

Sport: Football

Year: 1963

Punishment: Green Bay Packers running back Paul Hornung and Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alex Karras were suspended indefinitely by the NFL.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: Paul Hornung and Alex Karras, two of the NFL’s biggest stars at the time, grabbed headlines in April 1963 when they were suspended indefinitely by NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle for gambling on NFL games and their association with criminal figures in the process.

One year later, Rozelle reinstated Hornung and Karras after both agreed to a strict set of rules about their behavior moving forward, and they owned up to their actions.

Hornung later believed it was Vince Lombardi’s constant lobbying of Rozelle that got him back in the league.

40. Garrett’s Swing Seen ‘Round the World

Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett hits Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph with Rudolph’s helmet. David Richard / AP Photo

Sport: Football

Year: 2019

Punishment: Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett was suspended indefinitely by the NFL after ripping off Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph’s helmet, then swinging it at Rudolph and hitting him on the top of his head.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: The sight of Myles Garrett swinging the helmet and connecting with Mason Rudolph’s head was perhaps the most shocking scene to come out of an on-field confrontation in NFL history.

Rudolph wasn’t seriously hurt, although his role in what may have triggered the fight is still up for debate, and he was eventually fined $50,000 by the NFL.

Garrett missed the last six games of the 2019 season and was reinstated in February 2020. But his reputation might be tougher to fix.

39. IOC’s Shameful Move Against Thorpe

Jim Thorpe won two gold medals at the 1912 Summer Olympics. AP Photo

Sport: Track and field

Year: 1913

Punishment: Jim Thorpe was stripped of his gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Summer Olympics by the International Olympic Committee.

Level of penalty: Too harsh

Bottom line: One of the International Olympic Committee’s biggest moments of shame came with its punishment of Jim Thorpe, one of the greatest athletes of all time.

After winning the decathlon and pentathlon at the Summer Olympics in Sweden in 1912, a story came out in early 1913 that Thorpe had been paid a pittance for playing pro baseball before the Olympics — $2 per day. The Amateur Athletic Union stripped Thorpe of his amateur status and reported him to the IOC, which took away his gold medals.

Thorpe went on to play pro football, baseball and basketball, and the IOC returned his medals posthumously in 1983.

38. A-Rod Handed Record Suspension

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. Elise Amendola / AP Photo

Sport: Baseball

Year: 2013

Punishment: New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez was suspended for 211 games by Major League Baseball.

Level of penalty: Too harsh

Bottom line: Three-time American League Most Valuable Player Alex Rodriguez was dogged by reports of steroid use for years.

In 2009, Rodriguez admitted to using steroids from 2001 to 2003. In 2013, Rodriguez was caught in another substance-abuse scandal when he was shown to have obtained human growth hormone from the Biogenesis clinic in Miami.

MLB suspended Rodriguez for 211 games, which would have been the longest non-lifetime suspension in league history. It was later reduced to 162 games, and he missed the entire 2014 season.

37. Bertuzzi Shocks NHL With Dirty Play

Vancouver Canucks enforcer Todd Bertuzzi. David Zalubowski / AP Photo

Sport: Hockey

Year: 2004

Punishment: Vancouver Canucks winger Todd Bertuzzi was suspended for 17 months by the NHL and International Hockey Federation (IHF) and charged with criminal assault by the Attorney General of British Columbia. The Canucks were fined $250,000 by the league.

Level of penalty: Not harsh enough

Bottom line: Todd Bertuzzi made one of the dirtiest plays in NHL history when he punched Colorado’s Steve Moore from behind, knocking him out and slamming him face-first into the ice. Moore fractured three vertebrae in his neck, suffered a grade-three concussion, vertebral ligament damage, facial lacerations and amnesia.

Bertuzzi was suspended indefinitely, and when the NHL lockout wiped out the 2004-2005 season, his suspension was upheld by IHF and leagues all around the world.

Moore sued Bertuzzi, and the two settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

36. Washburn Washes Out of NBA

Chris Washburn, left, was the No. 3 overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft. Richard Drew / AP Photo

Sport: Basketball

Year: 1989

Punishment: Forward Chris Washburn banned from the NBA for life.

Level of penalty: Too harsh

Bottom line: Chris Washburn was the No. 3 overall pick in the doomed 1986 NBA draft out of North Carolina State.

Three years and three failed drug tests later, Washburn was kicked out of the league for life and spiraled into decades of drug use.

Washburn spent five more years bouncing around lower leagues in the U.S. and overseas before returning home and eventually settling in Houston, where he said he lived in crack houses and ate out of garbage cans for years while trying to get money for crack cocaine.

35. Schott Wears Out Her Welcome

Marge Schott owned the Cincinnati Reds from 1984 to 1999. Tom Uhlman / AP Photo

Sport: Baseball

Year: 1996

Punishment: Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott was banned from running the team for two years.

Level of penalty: Not harsh enough

Bottom line: Marge Schott, who bought a controlling interest in the Reds in 1984, was banned from baseball for one year in 1993 after she made racist comments about African-Americans.

In 1996, Schott made comments favorable to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in the same month she made racist comments about Asian-American children. MLB acted quickly to suspend Schott for two years, and she sold her controlling interest in the team before the 1999 season.

A longtime smoker, Schott died in 2004.

34. Michigan Parts Ways With NCAA Banners, Former Stars

University of Michigan forward Chris Webber. Paul Sancya / AP Photo

Sport: Basketball

Year: 2002

Punishment: University of Michigan self-imposed sanctions to vacate its 1992 and 1993 Final Four appearances, 1998 Big Ten Tournament championship and 1997 National Invitation Tournament championship.

Level of penalty: Too harsh

Bottom line: Booster Ed Martin was revealed to have paid Michigan men’s basketball players Chris Webber, Louis Bullock, Maurice Taylor and Robert Traylor over $600,000 dollars before and during their time playing for the Wolverines.

The six-year investigation proved Martin was laundering money from an illegal gambling operation through the players. Martin died while awaiting sentencing on embezzlement charges while Webber was indicted for obstruction of justice and pled guilty to contempt of court.

All four players were removed from Michigan record books and ordered to “disassociate” from the school for a decade.

33. NCAA’s Bark Worse Than Bite

Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, left, and head coach Joe Paterno. Paul Vathis / AP Photo

Sport: Football

Year: 2012

Punishment: Penn State football program was fined $73 million by the NCAA and Big Ten, given a four-year postseason ban, scholarship reductions, and vacated all wins from 1998 to 2011.

Level of penalty: Not harsh enough

Bottom line: There was no precedent for the scandal that shook college football when longtime Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts of child sexual abuse in 2012.

There was also no precedent for the punishment handed down by NCAA president Mark Emmert that he said was “to make sure the university establishes an athletic culture and daily mindset in which football will never again be placed ahead of educating, nurturing and protecting young people.”

The wins were later put back on Penn State’s record, the postseason ban lasted just two seasons, and the scholarships were returned to the full 85 by 2016.

32. IOC Has Enough of Russia’s Lies

Members of the Russian Olympic team. Paul Golovkin / AP Photo

Sport: Olympics

Year: 2019

Punishment: Russian athletes were banned from international competition for four years by the World Anti-Doping Association.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: Russia’s state-sponsored doping program for athletes is no secret. The Russians have had more Olympic medals stripped from them (47) than any other country, and more athletes caught doping at the Olympics (200) than any other country.

Starting in 2015, Russia was given every opportunity by the World Anti-Doping Association to come clean, mainly centered around proving the country’s own testing program was clean, and Russian athletics officials swore up and down that they would follow the rules.

Spoiler alert: They did not.

31. ITF Seeks to Bench Puerta for a Decade

Tennis star Mariano Puerta, left. Rudi Blaha / AP Photo

Sport: Tennis

Year: 2005

Punishment: Mariano Puerta was suspended eight years by the International Tennis Federation.

Level of penalty: Too harsh

Bottom line: Mariano Puerta made the French Open men’s singles final in 2005, then tested positive for a cardiac stimulant following his loss to Rafael Nadal, and was banned for eight years.

It was Puerta’s second failed post-competition drug test. His first tested positive for a banned substance in 2003 and was suspended for two years. He claimed his innocence, that his doctor had given him the substance for his asthma, and the suspension was reduced to nine months.

The eight-year suspension was later reduced to two years, but Puerta’s reputation was ruined, and he never reached the same heights as before the suspension and retired in 2009

30. Years of Deception Unravel for Jones

Olympic sprinter Marion Jones. Mary Altaffer / AP Photo

Sport: Track and field

Year: 2007

Punishment: Sprinter Marion Jones was suspended for two years by the U.S. Anti-Doping Association, sentenced to six months in federal prison and stripped of three gold medals and two bronze medals won at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Level of penalty: Not harsh enough

Bottom line: Marion Jones admitted to using steroids and lying to federal prosecutors in 2007, after 15 years of being dogged by accusations she used performance-enhancing drugs dating all the way back to high school.

Jones’ persistence in defending herself against the allegations and going after her critics was on par with Lance Armstrong in terms of infamy. Famed attorney Johnnie Cochran even got a four-year suspension overturned for Jones when she missed a drug test as a teenager.

Jones’ fall from grace is one of the most epic of all time.

29. Chess Grandmaster Caught Cheating

Former chess grandmaster Gaioz Nigalidze. Facebook

Sport: Chess

Year: 2015

Punishment: Gaioz Nigalidze stripped of the grandmaster title and banned for three years from competition by the International Federation of Chess.

Level of penalty: Not harsh enough

Bottom line: Chess grandmaster Gaioz Nigalidze had been the subject of complaints about his behavior in the past — particularly around his use of the bathroom at key times during matches.

At the 2015 Dubai Open, Nigalidze was surreptitiously followed into the bathroom on several occasions during a match and seen going into the same stall each time.

Officials went into the stall and found several electronic devices, including a cell phone, logged into Nigalidze’s social media accounts, and searches about his position on the chessboard.

28. Match-Fixing Draws Record Ban for Snooker Star

English snooker star Stephen Lee. Twitter

Sport: Snooker

Year: 2013

Punishment: Stephen Lee was suspended for 12 years by the World Snooker Association.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: England’s Stephen Lee was a top 15 snooker player in the world between 1997 and 2008, but as his skills started to decline, he was drawn into the shady world of fixing matches.

In 2013, it was revealed that Lee fixed matches in 2008 and 2009. The investigation came about in large part because of Lee’s return to international prominence in the sport during 2011 and 2012.

Lee now is suspended until his Oct. 24, 2024, which is his 50th birthday.

27. NASCAR Bans Hmiel for Drug Use

NASCAR driver Shane Hmiel. Jim Cole / AP Photo

Sport: Auto racing

Year: 2006

Punishment: Driver Shane Hmiel was banned for life by NASCAR.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: NASCAR banned Shame Hmiel for life after he failed his third drug test for either marijuana or cocaine and several incidents in which he put other drivers at risk.

Hmiel returned to open-wheel racing in 2010 after completing rehab, but wrecked in a qualifying race in Terre Haute, Indiana, and had to be put in a medically induced coma after his roll cage collapsed on top of him.

Hmiel has paralyzed, regained some use of his limbs but still requires the use of a wheelchair.

26. Sharapova’s Suspension Shocks Tennis World

Tennis star Maria Sharapova. Bernat Armangue / AP Photo

Sport: Tennis

Year: 2016

Punishment: Four-time Grand Slam singles champion Maria Sharapova was suspended for two years by the International Tennis Federation.

Level of penalty: Too harsh

Bottom line: Two positive drug tests for Maria Sharapova one week apart in 2016 revealed she had meldonium in her system — a drug she said she’d been taking since 2006. It also wasn’t a banned substance by the International Tennis Federation until Jan. 1, 2016.

Sharapova said she had a “good faith belief” that taking the drug was within the rules. The ITF showed little mercy, pursuing a four-year ban before settling on two years.

Sharapova, who has a reported $285 million in career earnings, appealed the suspension, and it was reduced to 15 months.

25. ‘Le Brat’ Comes Unglued

Manchester United soccer player Eric Cantona. Max Nash / AP Photo

Sport: Soccer

Year: 1995

Punishment: Manchester United star Eric Cantona was suspended for eight months, convicted of assault and sentenced to two weeks in prison, later amended to 120 hours of community service.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: After being thrown out of a game against Crystal Palace, Manchester United star Eric Cantona was confronted by Palace fan Matthew Simmons as he walked off the field.

Simmons allegedly said something about Cantona’s French heritage, and Cantona attacked — a “kung fu” style kick followed by a flurry of punches.

The attack caused worldwide controversy, and Cantona ended up missing eight months of matches, at the time one of the most severe penalties in soccer history.

24. Champions League Gives Man City the Boot

Manchester City players celebrate after scoring a goal. File / AP Photo

Sport: Soccer

Year: 2020

Punishment: Manchester City was banned from the Champions League for two years and fined 30 million euros by UEFA ($32.5 million today).

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: The highest level of professional soccer is the Champions League, and its equivalent of a salary cap is called the UEFA’s Financial Fair Play Regulations, and teams can’t spend more than they earn.

Abu Dhabi royal family member Mansour bin Zayed Nahyan bought famed club Manchester City in 2008 and, with a reported net worth of $22 billion, didn’t want to hear any nonsense about how much he could pay his players.

To get around the rules, Mansour’s Etihad Airways upped its sponsorship deal with Manchester City to 67.5 million pounds per year ($83.6 million), money which emails revealed did not go toward the sponsorship deal.

23. On-Ice Attack Leads to Criminal Charges

Odd Man Rush / YouTube

Sport: Hockey

Year: 2000

Punishment: Boston Bruins forward Marty McSorley was suspended for one year by the NHL.

Level of penalty: Not harsh enough

Bottom line: Marty McSorley gained a well-earned reputation as an elite NHL enforcer, winning Stanley Cup titles with Edmonton in 1986 and 1987.

In 2000, he orchestrated one of the dirtiest plays in NHL history when he swung his stick at Vancouver’s Donald Brashear, striking him in the head from behind.

Brashear, out cold on his feet, fell and smacked his head off his ice, causing him to have a seizure.

McSorley was convicted of assault with a weapon and never played in the NHL again.

22. NBA Bans Tarpley for Life

Dallas Mavericks forward Roy Tarpley. AP Photo

Sport: Basketball

Year: 1995

Punishment: Dallas Mavericks forward Roy Tarpley was given a lifetime ban by the NBA.

Level of penalty: Too harsh

Bottom line: Dallas Mavericks forward Roy Tarpley was one of the most dominant big men in the NBA for his first four seasons, and also one of its most troubled.

Tarpley was arrested twice and violated the league’s substance-abuse policy three times in a three-year stretch to earn his first lifetime ban in 1991. He was reinstated in 1994, violated the policy again and was banned for life a second time in 1995.

Tarpley sued the NBA over the ban, citing the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the league settled with him out of court.

21. Bountygate Turns Saints Into Marked Men

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, left, and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. Gerald Herbert / AP Photo

Sport: Football

Year: 2012

Punishment: New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was suspended indefinitely by the NFL, head coach Sean Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season, general manager Mickey Loomis was suspended eight games, assistant coach Joe Vitt was suspended six games, four players were suspended but overturned. The Saints were fined $500,000 and stripped of second-round draft picks in 2012 and 2013.

Level of penalty: Too harsh

Bottom line: One of the NFL’s best-kept secrets, for decades, was the use of “non-contract bonuses” for performances against specific players and teams.

The Saints were found to have a complex, multitiered bounty system led by defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. The biggest paydays came from “cart-off” hits that put the other team’s star players out of the game.

The NFC championship game against the Minnesota Vikings and star quarterback Brett Favre after the 2009 season was the most glaring example.

20. UCLA’s Win-At-All-Cost Mentality Backfires

Australian Olympic softball star Tanya Harding, right, led UCLA to the 1995 NCAA championship. Joe Cavaretta / AP Photo

Sport: Softball

Year: 1997

Punishment: UCLA softball was stripped of its 1995 national title, banned from 1997 postseason play and placed on three years probation by the NCAA.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: UCLA softball coach Sharon Backus was willing to do almost anything to win a seventh NCAA title, including using a team that didn’t have actual students on it.

She was also willing to fill her team with players on scholarships intended for other UCLA women’s teams, including Women’s College World Series MVP Tanya Harding, a pitcher from Australia who was only enrolled at UCLA for one semester.

Harding never returned to school after winning the championship and was a four-time Olympian for the Australian national team.

19. Baseball Hall of Fame Shuns Steroid Era

San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds, left, and St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire. James A. Finley / AP Photo

Sport: Baseball

Years: 2007-present

Punishment: The greatest players from baseball’s Steroid Era have been shut out of the Baseball Hall of Fame – most notably Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Mark McGwire, who was the first to become eligible for the Hall in 2007.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: On paper, all three players are first-ballot locks to enter Cooperstown.

Bonds won a record seven NL MVP awards and is MLB’s career and single-season home runs leader. Clemens is one of the most dominant pitchers and won seven Cy Young Awards. McGwire is the only one of the three to publicly admit to steroid use, but is off the ballot after 10 years of eligibility.

Bonds and Clemens each garnered approximately 59 percent of the vote in 2019, their seventh year of eligibility, and need 75 percent to be inducted.

18. Tell-All Book Is Louisville’s Undoing

Louisville men’s basketball head coach Rick Pitino. Jeff Roberson / AP Photo

Sport: Basketball

Year: 2018

Punishment: Louisville was stripped of its 2013 men’s basketball national title and 2012 Final Four appearance by the NCAA.

Level of penalty: Too harsh

Bottom line: The NCAA took back a national title in men’s basketball for the first time after stripper Katina Powell’s tell-all book described a culture at Louisville that included assistant coach Andre McGee paying thousands of dollars for strippers to entertain and have sex with players and recruits.

Louisville fired head coach Rick Pitino and lost its 2018 appeal to have the NCAA title reinstated. In a strange twist, a group of players on teams from 2010 to 2014 who weren’t involved in the scandal successfully sued the NCAA to have their names restored to the school and NCAA record books.

17. Coutu Busted Out of NHL

Boston Bruins defenseman Billy Coutu. AP Photo

Sport: Hockey

Year: 1927

Punishment: Boston Bruins defenseman Billy Coutu was suspended for life.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: Bruins defenseman Billy Coutu already had a reputation for extreme acts of on-ice violence after he severed teammate Eddie Shore’s ear during practice and was fined $50.

At the buzzer of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Ottawa Senators, Coutu started a bench-clearing brawl by attacking two referees as they tried to exit the ice.

He was given a lifetime ban but allowed to play in the minor leagues starting in 1929 and reinstated fully in 1932, although he never played in the NHL again.

16. Olympic Attack Leads to Lifetime Ban

Olympic taekwondo gold medalist Angel Matos, left. Matt Dunham / AP Photo

Sport: Taekwondo

Year: 2008

Punishment: Cuban taekwondo star Angel Matos and coach Leudis Gonzalez were banned from international competition for life by the World Taekwondo Federation.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: Fighting in the bronze medal match at the 2008 Summer Olympics, former Olympic gold medalist Angel Matos asked for an injury timeout.

Referee Chakir Chelbat gave Matos the allotted one minute to return to the ring before he called the fight, and Matos responded by kicking the referee in the face.

The incident caused such a stir that Cuban president Fidel Castro stepped in to defend Matos, citing losses by Cuban boxers in the Olympic semifinals as proof the officials were either unqualified or crooked.

15. ‘Malice at the Palace’ Makes NBA History

Indiana Pacers forward Metta World Peace (formerly Ron Artest) is restrained by teammate Austin Crosher. Duane Burleson / AP Photo

Sport: Basketball

Year: 2004

Punishment: NBA commissioner David Stern suspended nine players from the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons for a total of 146 games, resulting in $11 million in lost salaries for their roles in the “Malice at the Palace” — arguably the worst on-court incident in NBA history.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: There was no way to anticipate the chaos that erupted inside The Palace in Auburn Hills on the night of Nov. 19, 2004, at the end of a game between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons.

Pacers forward Metta World Peace, laying on the scorer’s table, charged into the stands and began attacking a fan after he was hit with a drink.

It sparked a massive, gladiator-style brawl between players and fans inside the arena, with World Peace getting the longest suspension for an on-court incident in NBA history at 86 games.

14. NCAA Dismantles USC Football Dynasty

USC running back Reggie Bush. Chris Carlson / AP Photo

Sport: Football

Year: 2010

Punishment: USC was stripped of its 2004 BCS national title, and Reggie Bush’s 2005 Heisman Trophy win was vacated.

Level of penalty: Too harsh

Bottom line: USC star running back Reggie Bush took various payments from an agent while he was still playing for the Trojans, including a house for his parents in San Diego.

The NCAA took the unprecedented action of stripping the school of the 2004 national title, and Bush had to return his Heisman Trophy. The NCAA’s actions came under intense scrutiny in the years following its ruling because of the man who led the investigation and handed down the punishment — former University of Miami athletic director Paul Dee.

In 2011, it was revealed that in almost all of Dee’s tenure at Miami players were receiving improper benefits, including when they won a national title in 2001.

13. Hack Proves Costly for St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa. Bob Levey / AP Photo

Sport: Baseball

Year: 2016

Punishment: St. Louis Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa was banned for life by MLB and sentenced to 46 months in federal prison. The Astros received $2 million from the Cardinals, plus two draft picks in 2017.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: Looking back, this was probably a sign of things to come. Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa, who had previously worked for Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow, was found to have hacked into the Astros’ main database and accessed private, key information on all players and members of the organization.

Correa pled guilty to five counts of criminal charges and got a lengthy prison sentence. At the time, Correa’s claims that he’d found similar information about the Cardinals in the Astros’ database was dismissed, but it now seems to have quite a bit of credence after Houston’s own cheating scandal.

12. ‘El Salvador 14’ Bring Shame to Nation

El Salvador national team player Alfredo Pacheco, left, battles for the ball. Alex Gallardo / AP Photo

Sport: Soccer

Year: 2013

Punishment: Fourteen members of the El Salvador national soccer team were banned for life.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: The biggest sporting scandal in El Salvador history came when it was shown that 14 members of the national team took bribes to fix matches in a 5-0 loss to Mexico in 2011 and a 4-2 loss to Paraguay in 2012.

One of the more notable players suspended was Alfredo Pacheco, who had the record for national team appearances and lived in the United States with his wife and children.

In 2015, Pacheco was murdered while walking out of a bathroom in El Salvador, shot at point-blank range.

11. Super Bowl Trip Takes Tragic Turn

@CrimeInSports / Twitter

Sport: Football

Year: 1989

Punishment: Cincinnati Bengals running back Stanley Wilson received a lifetime ban from the NFL.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: Stanley Wilson’s third and final violation of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy came on the eve of Super Bowl XXIII against the San Francisco 49ers. That’s when an assistant coach found him passed out in his hotel room after smoking crack cocaine.

Wilson not playing may have been the difference in a close loss for the Bengals, as the field at Miami’s Joe Robbie Stadium was wet and muddy on game day — conditions Wilson excelled in.

In 1999, Wilson was sentenced to 22 years in prison for stealing $130,000 in property from a home in Beverly Hills, California.

10. MLB Kneecaps Astros After Scandal

Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch, left, and general manager Jeff Luhnow. Pat Sullivan / AP Photo

Sport: Baseball

Year: 2020

Punishment: Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch were suspended for one year by MLB, then fired by the Astros. Former assistant general manager Brandon Taubman was suspended one year. The team was fined $5 million. Astros lost two first- and two second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021 drafts, respectively. Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora, the Astros’ former bench coach, and New York Mets manager Carlos Beltran, a former Astros player, were also fired.

Level of penalty: Not harsh enough

Bottom line: Former Houston Astros pitcher Mike Fiers, now playing for the Oakland Athletics, talked with The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich in November 2019 and detailed an extensive sign-stealing system used by the Astros that let batters know what pitches were coming.

MLB’s investigation confirmed the Astros used the system in 2017, when they won the World Series, and part of the 2018 season. The Wall Street Journal ran an article showing the Astros started using the system in 2016.

The lack of punishment of current Astros players, who were granted immunity by MLB in exchange for talking, was criticized roundly.

9. Politics Steal Ali’s Prime

Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali. AP Photo

Sport: Boxing

Year: 1967

Punishment: Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali was stripped of his heavyweight title and banned from boxing for three years.

Level of penalty: Too harsh

Bottom line: Muhammad Ali refused induction into the U.S. Armed Forces to go fight in the Vietnam War, citing his status as a “conscientious objector.”

Ali, the most recognizable athlete in the world at the time, was tried and convicted of violating Selective Service laws by refusing to enter the draft. He also was refused a license to box in any state after having his heavyweight belt taken from him.

Ali was able to return to boxing in 1970 with a pair of fights in New York and Atlanta after federal courts ordered his license reinstated, and the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Ali’s conviction with an 8-0 decision in 1971.

8. SMU Football Crushed by ‘Death Penalty’

SMU running back Eric Dickerson. David Breslauer / AP Photo

Sport: Football

Year: 1987

Punishment: Southern Methodist University’s football program received the “death penalty” from the NCAA. The team was not allowed to participate in the 1987 season and not allowed to play home games in 1988, but since the school wasn’t able to field a team, that season was canceled as well.

Level of penalty: Too harsh

Bottom line: From 1974 to 1985, SMU ran a “slush fund” of cash payments to players that made its program one of the best in the country but continually ran afoul of the NCAA and landed the program on probation five times in that stretch.

When the program was caught cheating once again, the NCAA canceled a football program’s season for the first and only time in its history, and the team never recovered.

The Mustangs didn’t make it back to a bowl game again until 2009.

7. Resto Brings Dark Days for Boxing

Luis Resto, right, fights Billy Collins Jr. Facebook

Sport: Boxing

Year: 1983

Punishment: Boxer Luis Resto was banned for 15 years, and cornerman Panama Lewis was banned for life.

Level of penalty: Not harsh enough

Bottom line: Undefeated prospect Billy Collins Jr. lost a 10-round decision to Luis Resto on June 16, 1983, and after the fight, Resto’s gloves were found to be lighter than the legal limit by one ounce each, and Resto’s hands were wrapped with illegal medical plaster, giving him more power.

Resto ended Collins’ career with the damage he caused to his face, and Collins killed himself one year later.

In 1986, Resto and trainer Panama Lewis were convicted of assault, weapon possession and conspiracy, with Lewis also convicted of tampering with a sporting contest.

Resto went to prison for three years, and Lewis went for six years.

6. Sterling’s NBA Ownership Gets Clipped

Former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Mark J. Terrill / AP Photo

Sport: Basketball

Year: 2014

Punishment: Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was banned from the NBA for life, fined $2.5 million and forced to sell the team.

Level of penalty: Not harsh enough

Bottom line: Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was recorded by his mistress making racist remarks about African-Americans — specifically NBA legend Magic Johnson.

Once the recording became public, NBA commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling for life and fined him the maximum amount under league bylaws.

Microsoft co-founder Steve Ballmer bought the team for $2 billion. Sterling bought the Clippers for $12.5 million in 1981.

5. Cricket Hero’s World Crashes Down

South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje. Obed Silwa / AP Photo

Sport: Cricket

Year: 2000

Punishment: South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje was banned for life by the United Cricket Board of South Africa.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: Former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje is considered one of the greatest players in the sport’s history, but his role in a match-fixing scandal in 2000 ended his career.

The Delhi police revealed Cronje took bribes and implored teammates to take bribes to throw matches against India’s best teams, and that he had over 70 personal bank accounts in the Cayman Islands.

Cronje appealed his lifetime suspension in 2001, but was turned down. He died in an airplane crash in 2002.

4. Harding Scandal Grabs World’s Attention

Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding. Brian McLaughlin / AP Photo

Sport: Figure skating

Year: 1994

Punishment: The United States Figure Skating Association banned Tonya Harding for life, as a skater or coach, and stripped her of the 1994 U.S. Championship.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: Professional figure skater Tonya Harding’s desire to be an Olympic champion was the motivating factor in an attack on rival skater Nancy Kerrigan.

The plot was carried out by Harding’s husband, Jeff Gillooly, who assembled a team of bungling criminals. Kerrigan was struck in the kneecap with a baton one day before the 1994 U.S. Championship, which Harding won.

Kerrigan won silver at the Olympics while Harding finished eighth. After admitting her knowledge of the attack, Harding was banned for life by the USFSA.

3. Rose Pays Gambling Debt With Lifetime Ban

Cincinnati Reds player/manager Pete Rose. AP Photo

Sport: Baseball

Year: 1989

Punishment: Pete Rose, the manager of the Cincinnati Reds and MLB’s career hits leader, agreed to be placed on the permanently ineligible list by MLB commissioner Bart Giamatti after an investigation revealed Rose had bet on baseball.

Level of penalty: Too harsh

Bottom line: The wording of Pete Rose’s “banishment for life” by Bart Giamatti left the door open to Rose’s return to baseball one day, and he’s eligible to apply for reinstatement once every year.

Rose has applied and been denied four times in the last 30 years, and some point to Rose’s admission he still bets on baseball — albeit legally — as the biggest hurdle to his return.

Giamatti’s death eight days after handing down Rose’s punishment is a lingering issue as well, as ensuing commissioners have either been unwilling or unable to interpret Giamatti’s intent in giving Rose a way back to baseball.

2. Armstrong’s Lies Come Home to Roost

Cyclist Lance Armstrong. Gerald Herbert / AP Photo

Sport: Cycling

Year: 2012

Punishment: Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from competitive cycling for life by the World Anti-Doping Association after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s investigation determined he led “the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program the sport has ever seen.”

Level of penalty: Not harsh enough

Bottom line: Lance Armstrong admitted to doping on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 2013 — after over a decade’s worth of accusations and denials.

That admission did little to fix the ruined lives of people who Armstrong destroyed along the way, usually for their unwillingness to go along with his lies.

The lifetime ban, while harsh, came after Armstrong’s competitive career was essentially over.

A federal whistleblower lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice against Armstrong was settled for $5 million in 2018, giving the saga some semblance of justice in the end.

1. ‘Black Sox’ Banned for Life

Chicago White Sox outfielder “Shoeless” Joe Jackson. File / AP Photo

Sport: Baseball

Year: 1920

Punishment: MLB commissioner Kennesaw “Mountain” Landis gave lifetime bans to eight players from the Chicago White Sox and one player from the St. Louis Browns, Joe Gedeon, for conspiring with gamblers to throw the 1919 World Series — the infamous Black Sox scandal. The White Sox players were Eddie Cicotte, Lefty Williams, Chick Gandil, Fred McMullin, Swede Risberg, Happy Felsch, Buck Weaver and Shoeless Joe Jackson.

Level of penalty: Just right

Bottom line: It’s important to understand baseball in the early 1900s.

When Kennesaw “Mountain” Landis took over as the first commissioner in MLB history in 1920, the league was just in its infancy and ready to come apart at the seams thanks to one scandal after another, including an incident where a fight at a Boston Red Sox game ended with part of the city burning to the ground.

There is an argument that players like “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and Buck Weaver may not have deserved lifetime bans. The counter to that is Landis’ punishments set a precedent that saved the game.