PICTURES: Sushil Kumar scandal - Other sports stars who fell from grace

From being the only Indian athlete to win two individual medals in Olympics to his arrest on murder charges, champion wrestler Sushil Kumar’s fall from grace has shocked sporting fraternity of his country. A bronze medallist in Beijing 2008 and then a silver winner in London 2012, Kumar was arrested on May 23 for his “alleged involvement” in the murder of fellow wrestler Sagar Dhankar in Delhi.

While most fellow Olympians remember Sushil as an affable person and also extremely approachable for the media, the wrestling community of the Indian capital is now abuzz with stories of a darker side to him. There are stories revolving around how he used his alma mater, the Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi, as a hub to meet his associates and ran a chain of dubious business activities. While the law takes its own course, it’s also a fact that Kumar’s career timeline has not been free of controversies.

Here are a few samplers: in 2016, he was accused of spiking fellow wrestler Narsingh Yadav’s food at Sports Authority of India’s Sonepat Centre ahead of Rio Games. Then in 2019, he was accused of deliberately hitting wrestler Jitendra in the eye during his final trial bout for the 2019 World Championships. Jitendra lost the bout and Sushil went to Nur-Sultan. There is already a call to strip him of the three Civilian honours that he received from the government: Padma Shri (2011), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2008) and Arjuna award (2005). Here we take a look at other famous sports stars who have fallen from grace.

SAM ALLARDYCE: The shamed England manager “mutually agreed” with the FA to depart the hotseat after he had negotiated a fee of £400,000 to undercover reporters to represent a firm hoping to profit from Premier League transfers - all only 67 days after taking over the job. He stayed in the sport and was most recently the manager of Premier League side West Brom. He quit after their relegation this season.

SEPP BLATTER: The shamed former Fifa supremo has faced countless accusations of corruption including authorising a $2 million payment to former Fifa vice president Michel Platini in 2011. They claimed it was for backdated and uncontracted salary for work Platini did in advising Blatter from 1999 to 2002, but Blatter was forced to resign in 2015 and legal wrangles are ongoing, with the FBI investigating wire fraud, money laundering and corruption.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: The breaking point for the former tennis hero came in March, 2016, when a crestfallen Sharapova admitted before the media that she took Meldonium, a banned drug for her heart problems without knowing that it was on the prohibited list - forcing the WTA to slap her with a two-year ban which was subsequently reduced to 15 months. When she came back immediately on the ban getting over, Sharapova found to her dismay that her world had collapsed around her. The younger generation of players started looking at her with suspicion while the French Open authorities refused to give her a wild card - saying they had a ‘moral responsibility’ to deny a player accused of substance abuse.

OJ SIMPSON: In one of America’s most publicised cases, former American footballer-turned-actor Simpson was accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman on June 12, 1994. Simpson was acquitted of the killings in 1995 but two years later lost a wrongful death case brought by the victims’ families and was ordered to pay $33.5 million. On December 5, 2008, Simpson was sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison for his part in an armed robbery in Las Vegas. At his parole hearing on July 20, 2017, the board decided to grant Simpson parole. He was released on October 1, 2017, having served almost nine years.

LANCE ARMSTRONG: Cyclist Armstrong went from national hero in America to villain after he was stripped of seven Tour de France titles for systematic doping. Armstrong cheated his way to the top of the cycling world through the most sophisticated doping programme ever seen in the sports world. Evidence linking Armstrong to the use of performance-enhancing drugs included financial payments, emails, scientific data, laboratory test results, and testimony from 11 former teammates. Armstrong was banned for life and stripped of his seven Tour de France titles (1999 to 2005).

TIGER WOODS: The former world No. 1 golfer’s downfall came in 2009 after revelations of multiple extra-marital affairs. In the early hours of November 27 he crashed his car outside his Orlando home, driving through a neighbours’ garden and hitting a fire hydrant. His wife Elin Nordegren then smashed the rear window of Woods’ car with a golf club, and a police report revealed he had been on prescription painkillers. He was also arrested in May 2017 after he was found asleep behind the wheel of his car - a toxicology report showed he had painkillers, sleep drugs and an ingredient active in marijuana in his body upon arrest. He made a comeback of sorts, winning the 2019 US Masters, but a near-fatal car crash in Florida earlier this year left him with two shattered legs and looks to have ended his playing career.

LAMAR ODOM: The former Los Angeles Lakers basketball star and ex-husband of TV star Khloe Kardashian was disgraced in 2015 after being found unconscious in a Las Vegas brothel having racked up a $75,000 bill over a five-day period. He had overdosed on a combination of drugs and alcohol and was airlifted to hospital where he remained in a coma for days. He had suffered kidney failure, several heart attacks and 12 strokes and was placed on life support. Following his recover and rehabilitation, Odom spoke described himself a “walking miracle” who had “cheated death”.

MIKE TYSON: In one of sport’s most documented scandals witnessed by millions live around the globe, boxer and former heavyweight champion Tyson had his license stripped for biting of a chunk of rival Evander Holyfield’s ear during their bout in 1997. Tyson was banned and ordered to pay £3 million plus legal costs. His license was reinstated in 1998 but he was a spent force, losing his heavyweight title fight return to Lennox Lewis in 2002.

OSCAR PISTORIUS: The ‘Blade Runner’ had become one of the most successful and famous paralympians due to his groundbreaking running ‘blades’ in place of his amputated legs. However, he was in the headlines for the wrong reasons in 2013 when he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, whom he claimed he had mistaken for an intruder hiding in the bathroom of his home in Pretoria. At his trial, Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide and received a five-year prison sentence. In 2015 the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa overturned the culpable homicide verdict and convicted him of murder. His prison term was increased to 13 years and five months.

DIEGO MARADONA: Forever remembered for his infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal against England at the Mexico 86 World Cup, shame was to befall the diminutive Argentine at the USA 94 World Cup when he was sent home after failing a drug test for ephedrine doping. It was the end of his international career, which lasted 17 years and yielded 34 goals from 91 games. He died in November 2020, aged 60, of a heart attack.

STEVE SMITH, DAVID WARNER, CAMERON BANCROFT: The Australian cricket trio shot to infamy 2018 after it emerged they were involved in a ball-tampering scandal that came to be known as ‘Sandpapergate’. During the third Test between Australia and South Africa in Cape Town, Bancroft was spotted by television cameras roughing up one side of the ball with sandpaper in his pocket. Due to their prior knowledge of the plan, then Australia skipper Steve Smith was stripped of the captaincy and handed a one-year ban, along with David Warner. For his part Bancroft was banned for nine months. In the aftermath, coach Darren Lehmann also quit his post.

MARION JONES: The shamed American gold medallist was in 2008 sentenced to six months in prison and two years of supervised release after she admitted to taking performance-enhancing steroids and lying to FBI investigators. She was also stripped of her three gold medals and two bronzes from the 2000 Summer Games.