Footballers are human beings like the remainder of us, and whereas we should not anticipate them to by no means make errors on or off the pitch… they do.
However the next went above and past of their courting of bother. Listed below are essentially the most controversial footballers of all time.
32. Toni Schumacher
Schumacher was accountable for one of the infamous fouls of all time. On the 1982 World Cup, the Germany goalkeeper got here charging out of his field and crashed into France striker Patrick Battison mid-air.
Battison was knocked out and left with cracked ribs and damaged tooth. Schumacher was unrepentant, insisting he was simply going for the ball.
31. Dennis Sensible
Sensible made his title at Wimbledon as a member of the notorious ‘Loopy Gang’. The diminutive midfielder as soon as broke a Leicester team-mate’s nostril in coaching, whereas at Chelsea he was stripped of the captaincy after assaulting a taxi driver.
The midfielder additionally had bust-ups with Patrick Vieira, Nicky Butt and Muzzy Izzet throughout his enjoying days.
30. Norman Hunter
Anybody nicknamed ‘Bites Yer Legs’ is certain to rub a number of opponents up the flawed approach. Hunter was a pillar of Don Revie’s ‘soiled Leeds’ aspect, the place he was recognized for his sturdy method to opposition strikers.
Hunter and Derby’s Franny Lee as soon as had an on-field boxing match, whereas on one other event the centre-back traded blows with Chelsea’s Ian Hutchinson.
29. Gerardo Bedoya
Bedoya is a record-holder: no participant in world soccer has been proven extra crimson playing cards. The Colombian, often called ‘the Beast’ again residence, was despatched off 46 instances between 1995 and 2015.
His most notorious dismissal got here in 2012 when he elbowed Jhonny Ramirez after which kicked him within the head for good measure. Bedoya was suspended for 15 video games.
28. Antonio Cassano
A tempestuous expertise, Cassano did naughty issues all the way in which all through his profession. The attacker repeatedly fell out with managers, locking horns with Fabio Capello, Luigi Delneri and Andrea Stramaccioni amongst others.
At Actual Madrid Cassano was criticised for his poor weight-reduction plan, however the Italian blamed his weight acquire on the membership’s sponsorship take care of Nutella.
27. Duncan Ferguson
Whereas enjoying for Rangers in 1994, Ferguson headbutted John McStay of Raith Rovers. The striker was charged with assault and, due to prior convictions, was sentenced to a few months in jail.
Throughout his time south of the border with Everton, Ferguson was despatched off eight instances. Nobody in Premier League historical past has been proven extra crimson playing cards.
26. Pepe
A wind-up service provider of the best order, Pepe appeared incapable of minding his personal enterprise on the soccer area.
He had a mood too. The Portuguese was dismissed on the 2014 World Cup for headbutting Thomas Muller. He as soon as stamped on Lionel Messi’s hand and kicked Getafe’s Javier Casquero within the again earlier than pushing his head to the bottom. Brutal.
25. Billy Bremner
A superb midfielder for Don Revie’s aspect, Bremner was key to placing the ‘soiled’ in ‘soiled Leeds’. The Scot scrapped with Kevin Keegan within the 1974 Group Protect, resulting in an 11-game suspension.
In 1975 the Scottish Soccer Affiliation banned Bremner from the nationwide staff for all times after an alleged nightclub combat.
24. Lee Bowyer
Together with Leeds team-mate Jonathan Woodgate, Bowyer was arrested after a scholar was left with extreme accidents at a nightclub. On one other event, the midfielder was convicted of affray after throwing chairs at and racially abusing a McDonald’s employee.
At Newcastle, Bowyer obtained into a rare on-pitch combat along with his team-mate Kieron Dyer vs Aston Villa with each gamers requested to depart the pitch.
23. Vinnie Jones
Extra of a pantomime villain at instances – witness his grabbing of Paul Gascoigne’s testicles – Jones might be downright nasty when he needed to be. The chief of Wimbledon’s ‘Loopy Gang’, he was despatched off 12 instances throughout his profession.
In 1992, Jones was fined £20,000 for presenting a Soccer’s Exhausting Males video which purportedly inspired violent on-field acts.
22. Ben Thatcher
A Premier League participant for Wimbledon, Tottenham, Leicester and Manchester Metropolis, Thatcher had a violent streak. In 2000 he was banned for 2 video games for intentionally elbowing Sunderland’s Nicky Summerbee.
His most despicable act got here six years later, when the left-back knocked out Portsmouth’s Pedro Mendes with a brutal, intentional elbow cost. He was banned for eight matches.
21. Kevin Muscat
Muscat performed soccer with little regard for the legal guidelines of the sport or the limbs of his opponents. Throughout his time at Rangers, the Australian was by no means picked for an Outdated Agency sport as he was deemed an excessive amount of of a hazard to opponents.
He ended his profession following a horrendous sort out on Adrian Zahra earned him an eight-match ban.
20. Ashley Cole
One of many best English defenders ever, Cole courted controversy when he joined Chelsea from Arsenal in 2006. Each he and the Blues had been fined for a tapping-up assembly, as was the membership’s supervisor Jose Mourinho.
Reflecting upon a suggestion of £55,000 per week to remain at Arsenal, Cole mentioned that the proposal left him “trembling with anger”.
19. Craig Bellamy
A troublesome character all through his profession, there may be not sufficient house right here to checklist all of the individuals Bellamy fell out with.
His most memorable bust-up got here throughout his time at Liverpool, when he struck his sleeping team-mate John Arne Riise with a golf membership following a training-ground dispute earlier that day. Bellamy celebrated his subsequent objective with a golf swing.
18. Marco Materazzi
In a single sense Materazzi was the sufferer when he clashed with Zinedine Zidane on the 2006 World Cup. However few had sympathy for the headbutted Italian, who allegedly insulted the Frenchman’s sister.
His aggressive type of defending introduced Materazzi many different enemies, he as soon as busted the lip of Siena’s Bruno Cirillo after punching him within the dressing room.
17. Romario
In 1994 Romario was hit with a five-game ban after punching Diego Simeone – a really courageous however in the end silly act. The next 12 months he walked out on Barcelona after one argument too many with Johan Cruyff.
After falling out with Edmundo, Romario caught a cartoon of his ex-team-mate above the boys’s bathrooms at a bar he owned.
16. Diego Costa
The Brazil-born Costa was hardly the toast of the city when he appeared at a World Cup in his residence nation… enjoying for Spain.
Within the Premier League, the previous Chelsea striker stamped on Emre Can, slapped Laurent Koscielny, and was accused of biting Gareth Barry. “My challenges are sturdy however noble,” he mentioned, considerably unconvincingly.
15. Sergio Ramos
Liverpool followers had been irate when Mohamed Salah obtained injured within the 2018 Champions League last, accusing Sergio Ramos of intentionally injuring their star man.
That was one among many scrapes Ramos has been concerned in. He was despatched off 28 instances at Actual Madrid and PSG, and as soon as obtained a two-game ban for intentionally getting booked within the Champions League.
14. Andoni Goikoetxea
As you possibly can guess from his moniker, the ‘Butcher of Bilbao’ was not afraid to get caught in. Goikoetxea’s most controversial second got here in 1983, when a brutal sort out on Barcelona’s Diego Maradona left the Argentine with a damaged ankle.
The next 12 months, Goikoetxea kicked Maradona within the chest throughout a mass brawl. One other time, he significantly injured Bernd Schuster.
13. Carlos Tevez
Manchester United followers had been up in arms when Tevez joined their rivals Manchester Metropolis in 2009 – and much more so when he later held up a ‘RIP Fergie’ signal.
In 2011, the Metropolis striker allegedly refused to come back on instead towards Bayern Munich. Tevez was positioned on gardening depart and spent his break day enjoying golf in Argentina.
12. El Hadji Diouf
At instances Diouf simply couldn’t maintain his mouth shut. He was embroiled in a number of spitting incidents in England, most notoriously when he expectorated within the face of Portsmouth defender Arjan de Zeeuw.
Diouf was later accused of taunting Jamie Mackie as he lay stricken with a damaged leg, resulting in Neil Warnock branding him “decrease than a sewer rat”.
11. Rene Higuita
The scorpion kick towards England was in line with Higuita’s eccentric character. This was a goalkeeper who repeatedly dribbled the ball out of his field (Cameroon striker Roga Milla robbed him on the 1990 World Cup) and generally into the opposition half.
In 1993 the Colombian was locked up for seven months for his position in a Pablo Escobar-linked kidnapping.
10. Edmundo
A 39-time Brazil worldwide, Edmundo loved himself off the pitch in addition to on it. In the course of 1998/99, he left table-topping Fiorentina to attend the Rio Carnaval. The membership’s type dipped they usually missed out on the title.
At one other Carnaval, a drunk Edmundo crashed his automotive and triggered the deaths of three individuals. He was nicknamed ‘O Animal’.
9. John Terry
A Chelsea legend, Terry loved a massively profitable profession – nevertheless it was not with out its contentious episodes. Foremost amongst them was being discovered responsible by the Soccer Affiliation of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.
In 2009 Terry allegedly had a fourth-month affair with Vanessa Perroncel, an ex-girlfriend of his former team-mate Wayne Bridge.
8. Roy Keane
Keane was one to carry a grudge. 4 years after a run-in with Alf-Inge Haaland, the Manchester United captain crashed his studs into his opponent’s knee in a premeditated assault.
Keane famously left the Eire camp earlier than the 2002 World Cup, whereas different on-field misdemeanours embrace stamping on Gareth Southgate and elbowing Jason McAteer. Shearer obtained off frivolously.
7. Nicolas Anelka
Nicknamed ‘Le Sulk’ by the English media, Anelka didn’t have the sunniest manner. The striker was despatched residence from the 2010 World Cup after launching right into a foul-mouthed tirade towards France supervisor Raymond Domenech.
In 2013 Anelka celebrated a objective for West Brom by doing the quenelle, a gesture which has been labelled an inverted Nazi salute.
6. Mario Balotelli
Why at all times you, Mario? Nicely, you probably did put on an AC Milan shirt whereas enjoying for Inter; you probably did let off fireworks inside your personal home; and you probably did throw darts at a Manchester Metropolis youth-teamer on the membership’s coaching floor.
A vibrant character and all-round cult determine, Balotelli was additionally an immensely proficient prospect who by no means fulfilled his true potential.
5. Joey Barton
Controversy dogged Barton’s profession from begin to end. He as soon as stubbed a cigar out in a younger participant’s eye, whereas a training-ground combat with Ousmane Dabo left the latter unconscious and landed Barton with a suspended jail sentence.
In April 2017 he was banned for 18 months after being discovered responsible of breaching betting guidelines. It successfully ended his enjoying profession.
4. Paolo Di Canio
A self-professed fascist, Di Canio has Benito Mussolini-inspired tattoos and was pictured on a couple of event giving a straight-arm salute to Lazio followers. He attended the funeral of Paolo Signorelli, a far-right determine concerned in a lethal terrorist assault in 1980.
In 1998 the Sheffield Wednesday striker was banned for 11 video games for pushing over referee Paul Alcock.
3. Luis Suarez
Relating to footballing controversy, Suarez was usually responsible of biting off greater than he may chew. The Uruguayan sunk his tooth into three opponents throughout his profession, incomes a cumulative ban of 26 video games.
Extra significantly, Suarez was suspended for eight matches after being discovered responsible of racially abusing Patrice Evra in 2011.
2. Eric Cantona
Cantona had disciplinary issues all through his profession. He as soon as punched an Auxerre team-mate within the face and dismissed worldwide colleague Didier Deschamps as a “water-carrier”.
In 1996 Cantona kung-fu kicked a Crystal Palace supporter who had abused him. The mercurial Manchester United man was hit with an eight-month suspension and a 120-hour group service order.
1. Diego Maradona
One of many best gamers ever, Maradona had his demons. A optimistic cocaine take a look at introduced a 15-month ban, whereas he additionally had alleged hyperlinks to Neopolitan criminals.
On the 1986 World Cup, the Argentine punched the ball into the England web. “[It was] a bit of with the pinnacle of Maradona, and a bit of with the hand of God,” he famously grinned.