Sports Scandals and Controversies Shake Competitive Events in 2025
Several sporting scandals and controversies have unfolded across various disciplines in 2025, raising questions about ethics and fair play. Qin Siyue, a 19-year-old Chinese Go prodigy, faced an eight-year ban and was stripped of her ranking after being found using AI and a hidden phone to plot moves during the Chinese Team Championship.
In the Baduk world championship final, Korea’s Byun Sang-il defeated China’s Ke Jie amidst newly introduced scoring rules, which Ke Jie described as causing psychological trauma. Meanwhile, Norway’s Nordic World Championship ski jumping event was marred by a scandal involving five male athletes and three team officials who used reinforced thread to modify jump suits illegally. The modifications were exposed when suits were torn open. Coach Magnus Brevig admitted this violated regulations, and athletes Marius Lindvik and Johann Andre Forfang faced charges for equipment manipulation. Former jumpers Daniel-André Tande and Remen Evensen openly admitted to past cheating.
In football, Juan Bernabe, the eagle mascot trainer for Lazio football club, was dismissed in January after posting boastful photographs of his anatomy following penile prosthesis surgery.
At the World Pool Championship in Jeddah, a controversy arose over waxed cue balls as players accused opponents of cheating. The World Pool Association declared waxing balls as cheating and stated it would be dealt with under its rules, though no sanctions had been reported at the time.
The world stone skimming championship on Easdale Island experienced security checks and disqualification of several competitors due to stone doctoring. The event’s toss master Kyle Mathews acknowledged the sport’s competitive pressures and apologized for the disqualifications.
China's curling team was implicated in alleged cheating at the Moose Jaw world curling championship for supposedly burning a rock and kicking a stone to alter its path. China denied the accusations and no penalties were imposed, but veteran Canadian curler George Karrys condemned the actions.
Lastly, in rugby, France’s Axelle Berthoumieu received a 12-match ban for biting Aoife Wafer in a Rugby World Cup quarter-final, a sentence which was later reduced to nine on appeal.
