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Famous Sports Betting Conspiracies and Controversies

by Sonal Shukla

Sports are just like the roller-coaster where there is a thrill, excitement, & fun, and if the essence of conspiracy is added, sports become more interesting. Similarly, in sports betting, you can find various conspiracies and controversies such as The Black Sox, Ali’s Phantom Punch, and others. These events were under the radar of the respective sports federation, and it is highly assumed that such events were indirectly affected by the sports gamblers. So, if you want to understand the involvement of betting in sports, this article is for you. And if you like gambling, try searching for “จีคลับสล็อต” and you will find offshore Asian casinos offering a big range of slot games online.

4 Most Famous Sports Betting Conspiracies and Controversies You Must Know

Sports Betting Conspiracies have somewhat polluted the sports environment, but in practice, it occurred, and sports federations have made many laws against the same to prohibit such actions. However, in the past, some shocking sports betting conspiracies took place, and still, the people need an answer to know whether that event was fixed or was just a coincidence.

1) Ali’s Phantom Punch to Sonny Liston

Ali is a very popular name in boxing and won many championships too, but the controversy lies within Liston. The person was the world heavyweight champion and also retained his outstanding form. But the match between Ali and Liston changed the scenario, and everyone was shocked by the result.

The day was 25th May 1965, when Ali and Liston faced each other at St. Dominic’s Hall in Lewiston, Maine. In the second round of the match, Ali attacked Liston with a phantom punch, and in no time, Liston was on the floor. Even at the end of the countdown, Liston didn’t stand in the ring, and Ali was declared the winner. After the end of the match, the series of controversies started where every expert put their perspective on Liston’s performance.

Liston Surrounded With The Controversy After The Match

Many believed that Liston was in huge debt to Mafia, and to clear the same, he made the deal to throw off the match to Ali. However, some other stories also revolved, which throws the light on the kidnapping of Liston’s Wife and daughter, and to protect them, he lost the match. So far, nobody knows what happened behind the curtain of the boxing ring.

2) The Black Sox

Without discussing The Black Sox controversy, the sports betting conspiracy and controversies are incomplete. In 1919, a baseball world series took place, and in a match between Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds, 8 players of Chicago White Sox, including Eddie Cicotte (the pitcher and best player), were the accused of losing the match intentionally.

Looking at the past performance of the Chicago White Sox before 1919, you will find that the White Sox was the best baseball team. But the world series of 2019 changed the scenario completely as in the betting world, Chicago was the favorite, and the Reds were the underdogs. The rumors spread that the match was fixed and Chicago White Sox would throw the match to Cincinnati Reds, and it came true.

Additionally, another story came into the limelight, which shows the revenge the group of players took against the team owner Charles Comiskey. In those days, Charles had a history of underpaying the players, and the frustrated players decided to deceive the owner by losing the match. However, this story is merely based on rumors, and there is no concrete evidence. All eight players were banned from baseball for a lifetime, and such an event became historic in sports betting.

3) Tim Donaghy– NBA Referee

Considering the sports betting conspiracies and controversies in the NBA, the first name that will come to mind is Tim Donaghy. The year was 2007 when the news flashed out that a notorious referee indulged in the betting and misused his power during the game. Now you may wonder what exactly happened? Well, in NBA sport, the referee plays a major role as he can make a call for the fouls for any team, take the benefit of the situation, and change the match scenario.

Tim Donaghy did the same, and to earn some extra money, he changed the game output, which enabled the bettors to win hefty money from the betting. If you go closer, you will find that a massive wagering amount was placed on one team, and the bettors also won that. The charges framed by the FBI on Tim were serious; soon after that, NBA fired him.

The NBA took the bold step against Tim, but at present, many insiders in the NBA can change the game and give good profit to bettors. So, the board must look into these matters for the fair game.

4) Sports Betting Controversy on Tennis

Tennis is a prestigious game, and sports betting conspiracy & controversy on this is a big matter. If you want to know the issue more in-depth, you will have to go back to 1973; there was a match between the two legends at that time. On the court, a retired Wimbledon champion, Bobby Riggs, was facing the Billie Jean Kings (a female tennis player who occupied the second spot in the world).

The prime aim of the match was to check whether the female tennis player could give a tough fight to the male tennis player or not. Before this match, Bobby had already defeated Margaret Court, who was at the first position on the list of female tennis players. So, everyone assumed that Bobby could easily defeat the Kings, but the result was beyond the expectation because the Kings defeated Bobby.

Controversy

Since after the defeat, many allegations were put against Bobby; some said to clear the debt, Bobby lost the match. However, there is no concrete evidence, but the defeat of a legendary tennis player raised many questions about the involvement of bettors in this sport.

Bottom Line

Many sports betting conspiracies and controversies have surrounded the sports industry, and hardly some gets escaped. If you are familiar with National Hockey League, then you must be aware of Operation Slapshot, which shook the entire hockey fans. The reason is that in this conspiracy, many hockey people were involved, i.e., players to coaches. Similarly, there are some other sports, too, where controversies happen.

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