Top 10 Sporting Injustices

The LA Raiders head coach Jon Gruden is recognised as one of the most exciting, passionate and eccentric head coaches in NFL history. In his first spell in the league he turned the lowly Raiders into contenders before beating them in a super bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After a long spell working in the commentary booth Jon is back coaching, and with the Raiders (now based in LA). This weekend he will play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the first time since returning to the sidelines - but Jon’s motivation is more than simply getting one over his former team…

10. The Tuck Rule Game

Back in 2001, John Gruden’s Raiders had just stolen the ball back from Tom Brady’s Patriots in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter of the Divisional Playoffs. They had the lead and this looked to have ended the upstart team with the lowly draft pick from completing their fairy-tale. Instead, the officials spent an extended period staring at replays before deciding that despite Brady making no attempt to pass the ball, his decision to pull the ball back to his chest after a pump meant that he could keep the ball. The decision baffled fans and commentators alike, as most discovered “the tuck rule” for the first time. Instead - The Patriots kicked a game tying field goal, and a second in overtime to win the game on their way to their sixth super bowl title. This weekend, Gruden will look to tackle Brady again, this time with the Buccaneers and get revenge for one of the most infamous plays in NFL history.

9. Chesterfield are robbed in the FA Cup

The FA Cup loves to champion the underdog, the lower division sides that cause an upset against a top flight side. Back in 1997 the minnows causing an upset were Chesterfield, they’d already knocked out Premier League sides Bolton and Nottingham Forest when they faced Middlesbrough in the semi finals. Boro were packed full of talent from the likes of Juninho, Emerson and Ravanelli and despite struggling in the Premier League they were heavy favourites against the Spireites who, at the time, were in the third tier of English football.

Middlesbrough found themselves down to ten men late in the first half when Vladimir Kinder earned a second booking. At half time, pundits wondered if another upset on the cards, the star of their cup run had been future England striker Kevin Davies but it was his strike partner Andy Morris who started the show in the semis. The ball broke to him in the box and after adjusting his feet, the man who cost £500 and a bag of footballs, slipped the ball into the net. Six minutes later Morris was put through again, this time Middlesbrough keeper Ben Roberts charged out of goal and brought him down. The penalty was converted by current Burnley manager Sean Dyche. At the other end Champions League winner Fabrizio Ravanelli responded four minutes later and with the game perfectly poised at 2-1 Chesterfield struck again. Jon Howard smashed an effort against the crossbar from inside the Boro box, it bounced across the line throwing his eyes up and celebrated - unfortunately for him referee David Ellery hadn’t seen it. Middlesbrough equalised and after a goal a piece in extra time the game went to a replay. Middlesbrough cruised through and neutrals wondered what would have happened if the goal had been seen… how long would the fairy-tale have lasted?

8. Boris (Dis)Onishchenko

This would have been higher on the list, but Boris was caught.. That being said, Boris’s attempts to snatch a gold medal in the 1976 Olympic Modern Pentathlon were truly unjust. The event combines swimming, running, shooting, horse riding and fencing in an attempt to replicate the challenges faced by a “modern” soldier so it’s apt that the moment in question took place in a contest between two fellow soldiers. Onishcenko or the USSR’s red army faced off against Sgt. Fox of the British army… when Fox noticed something bizarre happening on the fencing piste. Onishcenko was receiving points despite not contacting Fox. After this continued in other bouts an investigation was launched. After officials discovered Onischenko had tampered with the electronic scoring system through a series of concealed wires in his blade he was given a dishonourable discharge from the Olympic games.

7. Michael Conlon’s Olympic Robbery

In the build up to Michael Conlon’s quarterfinal bout against Russian Vladimir Nikitin, the Irishman’s dad had given him a simple reminder: “you know you can stop this guy?”. Michael’s dad had noticed a number of unusual decisions favouring Russian boxers at the games and hoped his son would take the fight out of the judges hands. Instead Michael dominated every round, Nikitin barely got a jab through Conlon’s guard so when the official judgement was made Conlon in favour of the Russian fighter Conlon was understandably furious. Ripping off his jersey and swearing at the judges. The decision was so controversial that it led to the AIBA (who organise all major amateur boxing) being suspended by the IOC following allegations of result tampering. The alleged corruption was deemed so toxic by Olympic officials that no judge who ruled at the Rio Olympics is currently eligible for the Tokyo games. For Conlon there was some redemption when he matched up with his nemesis in the pro ranks, once again the decision went to the judges, and this time the decision was the right one.

6. Schumacher turns in on Hill

1994 was a year of tragedy in Formula One. The sports brightest light Ayrton Senna had been wiped out in a weekend of trauma for the sport that also saw the passing of Roland Ratzenberger. By the time the season had rumbled onto a conclusion Senna’s teammate Damon Hill and rising star Michael Schumacher found themselves in a dogfight for the title. Hill was the son of a champion who’d reached the sport’s pinnacle towards the end of his career, Michael Schumacher’s rise to the top was Senna-esque - he’d outdriven the car in a smaller team and been competitive from the outset in his first decent car. Schumacher looked certain to be the figurehead to lead the sport through a dark year. He was leading the race when he skidded off the road and into the barriers. His wounded car re-entered the road in front of Hill, who dived up the inside of the German. Schumacher shut the door across him, taking both men out of the race and assuring the German’s first title. The moment is seen as one of the most contentious in F1 history.

5. Schumacher’s ridiculous tackle on Battiston

From one Schumacher to another, this time Harold Schumacher, the German goalkeeper spotted the marauding Patrick Battiston bursting on to a through ball with the scores level in the World Cup Semi Final back in 1982. He made a decision to charge out of goal, inexplicably jumping hip first into the face of the Frenchman. Battiston collapsed to the deck unconscious, he lost two teeth, and later fell into a coma. While emergency treatment was underway, Schumacher stood, hands on hips, waiting to take the resulting goal kick. Because extraordinarily the referee hadn’t ruled the incident to be a foul. Schumacher would later court further controversy when after hearing of Battiston’s dental injuries he stated “If that’s all that’s wrong with him, I’ll pay for his crowns”. Germany would eventually win the game before losing to Italy in the final. For France, they could only wonder what would have happened had the referee taken the appropriate action following the incident.

4. Henry handles the Republic of Ireland

Back in 2009, the Republic of Ireland were seeking an upset in the World Cup qualification playoffs against a France team that won the World Cup 13 years earlier and had lost on penalties to Italy back in 2006. Aiming for their fourth ever appearance at the finals Ireland had got off to a shaky start losing the home leg 1-0. But in the away leg, they had taken the game to extra time through Robbie Keane’s goal. Then deep into extra time Thierry Henry reached out a hand, controlled the ball twice with his hand and slipped it back to Arsenal teammate William Gallas and condemned Ireland to defeat. The goal sent France to the World Cup and led to protests of over 100,000 people in Dublin as a campaign for a re-match or a 33rd World Cup place were met with rejection from Sepp Blatter. There was some karmic payback at the World Cup finals however when France imploded amidst infighting and finished bottom of their group picking up a solitary point.

3. Roy Jones Jnr’s Olympic agony

At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul Roy Jones jnr was the favourite in the light middleweight category. Going up against local man Park Si-Hun few gave the South Korean a chance. Park had won a controversial close call against Italian Vincenzo Nardielli in the semi finals and was underpowered and battle-weary by the time the final approached. In the final Jones dominated - Park barely touched Jones - it was effortless. As the final bell won - Jones threw his hands up in celebration. It went to the judges instead of a unanimous call for Jones the five judges ruled 3-2 in favour of a bemused Park who looked shocked and embarrassed. The referee shuffled the judges cards in disbelief while a disconsolate Roy Jones Jnr sat in his corner with a towel over his head. One of the judges would go on to say that he’d voted for the Korean fighter expecting Jones to win easily - so Park wouldn’t be embarrassed, the rest of the judges didn’t reveal their reasoning. It led to a total overhaul of the judging (with results revealed round by round instead of at the end), but as Michael Conlan knows, that doesn’t guarantee injustice has been eliminated. For Roy Jones jnr, now a multiweight world champion the decision is still painful. 32 years later, he still hopes the decision will eventually be overturned…

2. Priest ruins de Lima’s Race

Leading the marathon in the 2004 Athens Olympics Vanderlai Corderai de Lima, is striding through the Greek streets when a defrocked Irish priest, dressed in a kilt short enough to be a miniskirt wrestled him into the crowd. de Lima was eventually freed from the priest’s grasp and back on to the road but his lead dwindled, his rhythm was broken and he eventually trailed into the stadium third.

De Lima’s initial disappointment had turned into joy by the time he arrived into the Olympic stadium to finish third and his positive attitude earned him the Pierre De Coubertain medal alongside his bronze. The infamous Priest Neil Horan who had also disrupted the British Grand Prix and the Derby has been embroiled in endless controversies away from the sporting world which we won’t go into here. But his decision to steel gold from De Lima permanently altered sporting history. Thankfully Brazil gave de Lima the honour of lighting the Olympic torch when Brazil hosted in 2016, a moment of personal he was denied 12 years earlier.

1. The Hand of God

All eyes were on the World Cup Quarter Final in 1986 between England and Argentina. England’s Gary Lineker was the tournament’s top goal scorer, Diego Maradona was the world’s best player and to add further intrigue, this was the first meeting between the two sides since the 1982 Falklands War. In the first half Diego Maradona outjumped Peter Shilton and punched the ball over his head for the opening goal. In the days prior to VAR, England were forced to accept the decision. Minutes later Maradona showed off his talent, by dribbling from the halfway line past the majority of the England team before slotting home to give Argentina a 2-0 lead. Lineker’s late goal was enough to secure the golden boot but not enough to overturn the controversial advantage. Maradona would infamously refer to the goal as the hand of god. He explained later: “"We, as Argentinians, didn't know what the military was up to. They told us that we were winning the war. But in reality, England was winning 20–0. It was tough. The hype made it seem liked we were going to play out another war. I knew it was my hand. It wasn't my plan but the action happened so fast that the linesman didn't see me putting my hand in. The referee looked at me and he said: 'Goal.' It was a nice feeling like some sort of symbolic revenge against the English."