9 Books about the Biggest Sports Scandals in History

In 2015, the greatest NFL quarterback of all time, Tom Brady, found himself at the center of one of football’s biggest controversies—the New England Patriot’s use of under-inflated footballs in their play-off victory over the Indianapolis Colts. The so-called “Deflategate” scandal threatened the legacy not only of the Patriot’s, but of their star player, banned for four games for his part in the affair.

Sherman and Casey’s forensic study not only takes us inside the locker rooms at the Gillette Stadium as the story of the Patriot’s malfeasance unfolds, but also maps Brady’s road to redemption during the following season.

A disturbing tale of the misuse of power and privilege within the Penn State football powerhouse. Moushey and Dvorchak’s fast-paced book exposes the extent of defensive co-ordinator Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse of vulnerable young people. More than that, it demonstrates the way his success on the field—Penn won two national titles during his time with them—lead those higher up the chain to turn a blind eye to his crimes.

Game Over is an indictment not only of Sandusky’s evil, but also the warped values surrounding sporting success that facilitated his crimes.

The City College of New York men’s basketball team’s victory in the 1949/50 national championships should be remembered as a great story of gritty no-hopers battling to glory. Instead, it forms the heart of one of college sports’ most infamous chapters—a points-shaving scandal that saw CCNY players colluding with gamblers and gangsters to deceive the public and enrich themselves. By the end of it, 35 people, including 20 players, would be indicted.

Cohen’s 1977 book about the affair is beautifully written and empathetic. A classic of sports literature.

Former FBI task force agent, Eddie Dominguez, was a founding member of the Department of Investigations set-up by Major League Baseball in the wake of 2005’s congressional hearings on doping in the professional game. In his sharply observed book, he looks back on his six years with the DOI, giving readers the inside scoop on everything from the trafficking of Cuban players and the devious antics of agents to the illegal supply of performance enhancing drugs.

More importantly, Dominguez also points to the way those who run the sport would too often choose to bury trouble than tackle it.

The fall of seven-time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong is the greatest scandal in all of professional cycling, a sport that has had more than its fair share of them. Irish journalist David Walsh did more than anybody to uncover the truth about the Texan’s doping regimen, and he paid for it with a barrage of threats, legal actions and intimidation.

Armstrong succeeded in scaring many of his critics into silence, but Walsh was made of sterner stuff. Written after the cyclist had finally confessed, Walsh’s passionate and shocking book confirms that at least one thing Armstrong had said was true—it definitely wasn’t about the bike.

In 1968, The London Times organised a solo round-the-world yacht race with a first prize of £5000. Donald Crowhurst, an inexperienced amateur sailor with a home-made boat and financial worries entered. Crowhurst was a true sporting underdog, a little man going up against the elite. The public followed the spirited Brit’s progress intently as he gradually drew into an incredible lead over his better financed and more experienced rivals. It was feel good story that gripped nations.

Sadly, none of it was true. Crowhurst was simply filing false radio reports about his progress while sailing round in circles. Part Richard Curtis-style comedy, part Shakespearean tragedy, Crowhurst’s story is brilliantly and sympathetically told by Hall and Tomalin.

Retired trial lawyer Kray tells the story of one of the cruelest and most brutal of all horse racing scandals, the unexpected death of the American racing’s most valuable horse, Alydar, in 1990. The thoroughbred was discovered in his stable at Calumet Farm with a broken leg. He had to be euthanized. Insurance investigators concluded that the incident was an accident and paid out $41.5 million.

But, as Kray conclusively shows in a book that reads like a Dick Francis whodunit, the death of the great stallion was by no means as straightforward as that.

British investigative journalist David Conn takes a measured and forensic approach to a corruption scandal that came close to destroying the world’s biggest sporting event, the soccer World Cup.

For more than 40 years, senior officials in the game’s governing body, FIFA had garnered a reputation for taking bribes from countries bidding to host the prestigious tournament. In 2015, it lead to an FBI investigation that toppled many of them.

How bad was the corruption? Well, as Conn tells us, one senior FIFA official, Chuck Blazer, had creamed off so much cash he could afford to keep an apartment in Trump Tower just for his cats.

At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Canadian Ben Johnson stormed to victory in the final of the men’s 100 meters ahead of his bitter rival, American Carl Lewis. The following day, it was announced that Johnson had tested positive for anabolic steroids. He was stripped of his gold medal and became a sporting pariah.

As time went on, however, more and more of the sprinters who took part in the race would be unmasked as drug cheats. Moore’s meticulously researched book shines a light on the stories and misdeeds of those who took part in what is now considered the most controversial race in Olympic history.