While we can name so many amazing things that happened in the year under review, so are there some scandals as well.
To be a sports personality means to forfeit one’s privacy and this means that anything they do tends to be of public interest.
Below, we take a look at the top five sports scandals in the year 2019:
1. Afriyie Acquah sex tape leak
Our top scandals list begins right here in Ghana, following a leaked sex tape involving Black Stars midfielder Afriyie Acquah.
In September, the 27-year-old mistakenly posted his own sex tape live stream on his Snapchat. In the video, a white lady was seen sucking the player’s joystick.
The video was viewed by thousands of people before the midfielder ultimately deleted it minutes later. However, many people had already seen it before Acquah took it off his Snap.
It became one of the most talked about scandals in that period, although the midfielder never spoke about it in the media.
2. Latif Blessing’s alleged child neglect
Another Ghanaian footballer who was involved in a scandal in 2019 was attacking midfielder Latif Blessing.
The Los Angeles FC player was reported to the US government for reportedly refusing to take up his responsibilities as a father.
Blessing was accused of fathering a child with a lady called Heather Sheila, but neglected both the child and its mother.
The former Liberty Professionals star is said to have denied fathering the child, while calling for a DNA test to prove the claims.
Meanwhile, Sheila went ahead to report Blessing to the state authority, insisting the player had abandoned her and her child.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo’s rape allegation
Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo also came under the spotlight in the course of the year after a rape allegation was levelled against him.
Model Kathryn Mayorga accused the Portugal international of sexually abusing her during a night out in Las Vegas back in 2009.
Ronaldo is said to have paid Kathryn a sum of €375,000 as settlement in order to get her to keep quiet.
The Portuguese, however, denied the allegations, but the five-time Ballon d’Or winner did acknowledge that he indeed paid a settlement to the lady.
Meanwhile, the case was later dropped after the Las Vegas Prosecutor underscored that there was not enough evidence to bring charges against Ronaldo.
4. Afghan FA boss banned for sexual abuse of female players
Former president of the Afghanistan Football Federation, Keramuddin Karim, was in June handed a lifetime ban by FIFA over allegations of sexual harassment of female players.
Karim was found to have abused his position by abusing female players in camp between 2013 and 2018.
Although he faced no criminal charges, he was also fined 1 million Swiss francs (about $1 million) after being found guilty. This was one of the biggest sports scandals in Asia.
5. Liberia’s Musa Bility banned over corruption
Back to Africa, and former Liberia FA President, Musa Bility was also handed a 10-year ban from all football related activities by FIFA.
He is said to have breached FIFA’s code of ethics by engaging in a conflict of interest and misappropriating funds.
In addition to the ban, the ex-CAF Executive Committee member was also fined $500,000 over his scandalous act.