From credit card fraud to fan violence The biggest upsets and scandals in the 2025 sports year

A biathlon star stealing from a teammate, a shock moment for a Canadian cliff diver and the dark shadows hanging over the NBA and Turkish football - these were the biggest upsets of the sporting year.

Shocking moment for cliff diver Molly Carlson: during her jump from the 21-metre-high platform in Polignano a Mare, the 25-year-old slips as she jumps off. Carlson reacted with lightning speed, was able to realign herself in the air and control her fall.

"I'm shocked at my reflexes - like a cat, I find my feet and I'm okay," she writes on Instagram. Apart from a badly bruised foot, Carlson escapes with a scare: "I never thought I'd ever slip on a platform. But it happened."

Several controversial decisions overshadowed the Swiss Wrestling and Alpine Festival in Mollis. In the bouts between Joel Wicki and Romain Collaud and Werner Schlegel and Curdin Orlik, the judges made serious errors - both to the disadvantage of the favorites for the title of king, Wicki and Schlegel.

"There were significant mistakes from our point of view. We need to think about this for the future. These decisions ultimately have an influence on who becomes the wrestling king," said the retired Christian Stucki, wrestling king of 2019, in clear words.

Due to the serious mistakes, the discussion about the possible introduction of VAR in wrestling is reignited. However, as the survey conducted by blue News on site in Mollis proves: Enthusiasm among fans is limited.

For months, Turkish football has been rocked by a betting scandal in which the authorities and the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) are investigating players, referees and club officials for illegal betting activities and possible match-fixing.

More than 1,000 players have been implicated in the process and at least 102 professionals have been temporarily suspended - including players from the Süper Lig. Referees are also involved: Hundreds have been suspended for having betting accounts and, in some cases, allegedly actively betting on matches. Numerous arrests and arrest warrants have been issued, including against players and club presidents. The scandal continues to be investigated.

The NBA is also rocked by a scandal. The handcuffs snap shut at the end of October: The coach of the NBA team Portland Trail Blazers, Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat player Terry Rozier, former Cleveland Cavaliers player Damon Jones and around 30 other people are arrested for banned sports betting and illegal gambling.

In addition to the manipulation of sports betting, the activities of the alleged fraudsters also included poker games - and not simply illegal poker for large sums of money, but games falsified using high-tech. The sports celebrities acted as decoys, luring wealthy players to the poker table with the prospect of playing a few rounds in this illustrious circle. What they didn't know: They were being cheated from A to Z with X-ray tables, hidden cameras, high-tech glasses and contact lenses, and rigged card shufflers.

The arrests were announced together with another basketball fraud case in which NBA players allegedly faked injuries in order to manipulate betting odds. The poker games, which began back in 2019, were run by the mafia. Part of the profits flowed into their criminal activities.

Ex-FCZ player Daniel Denoon is found guilty of commercial fraud by the Bülach district court at the end of October. The sentence: two years in prison and a fine of CHF 45,000, both suspended for two years. In addition, there is a fine of 3,000 francs and legal costs of 5,000 francs.

Denoon's offense: He ordered cell phones, expensive headphones and other goods to a wide variety of addresses. He then sent the parcels back - albeit manipulated. Instead of the valuable items, he filled the boxes with waste or other materials to imitate the exact weight of the ordered goods. In this way, he defrauded Galaxus of over 70,000 francs. He has to pay this back following his conviction.

France's biathlon world champion Julia Simon is sentenced to three months' probation and a fine of 15,000 euros plus all legal costs by the criminal court in Albertville in October. She had used stolen credit cards belonging to her teammate Justine Braisaz-Bouchet to purchase goods worth 2,500 euros on the internet and confessed to the crime in court.

The French Ski Federation imposed a six-month ban from training and competitions - although five months of this was suspended. Although Simon missed the start of the season, he is now able to take part in competitions again and will also be competing at the Olympic Games.

YB fans cause a scandal during the Europa League match against Aston Villa: opposing players are pelted with cups, stadium seats fly onto the pitch and a brawl breaks out with the police in the stadium. Individual Bern supporters were arrested in the stadium, and the following day more fans were arrested at Birmingham Airport.

The club is also punished: YB is not allowed to sell tickets to its own fans for the away match against Stuttgart. The club is also fined 45,000 francs. YB president Marcel Brülhart chose clear words afterwards: "I was incredibly disappointed. I feel very sorry for our YB family, the environment and the people who give their best every day. A red line was crossed."

The World Ski Jumping Championships in Trondheim at the end of February and beginning of March were overshadowed by a scandal involving manipulated suits. Anonymously filmed and published videos showed how the Norwegian team altered competition suits in an unauthorized manner. An unauthorized seam was attached to provide more stability when flying in the air.

Three coaches and five jumpers were provisionally suspended during the World Championships. In August, Marius Lindvik (27) and Johann-André Forfang (30) were then banned for three months by the FIS.

Radio presenter and comedian Marty Sheargold causes a major scandal on his show with sexist comments about the Australian women's national football team. The day after a match against Japan, Sheargold says in a broadcast on the radio station "Triple M": "I'd rather hammer a nail into the head of my penis than watch that ... Are there any men's sports we can talk about?"

The 54-year-old's statements caused a storm of indignation. His employer "Triple M" parted ways with him. Shergold's words also found their way into politics - at the highest level. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned Sheargold's contemptuous and degrading remarks and made it clear: "Those were shocking comments."

The sporting achievements of the Swiss U23 team at the European Championships in Estonia are overshadowed by a political action. The epee quartet of Ian Hauri, Théo Brochard, Jonathan Fuhrimann and Sven Vineis won silver in the team competition behind Israel on Saturday. However, it wasn't their athletic performance that caused a stir afterwards, but their behavior during the medal ceremony.

The U23 team demonstratively turned their backs on the Israeli team during the victory ceremony when the winners' anthem was played. The action caused red faces. The Israeli foreign minister even spoke out on social media: "Shame on the Swiss team for their disrespectful behavior. You don't know how to lose and have behaved in a way that is embarrassing for you and the country you are supposed to represent," Gideon Sa'ar wrote on X.

The Swiss quartet subsequently apologized for the action. "We would like to explain our actions and express our regrets," the fencers wrote on Instagram. "We apologize to everyone whose feelings we hurt - especially our final opponents from the Israeli fencing team and the Israeli Fencing Federation."

The Italian cycling team S.C. Padovani Polo Cherry Bank experienced a shocking incident at the end of December when a car driver shot at them during a training camp near Lake Garda. Fortunately, no one was injured. Footage shared by the team on social media shows a BMW driver pulling up alongside the seven cyclists and firing two shots before driving off.

The incident occurred while the team's sports directors, who normally follow in a support vehicle, had stopped to wait for another group. A club statement following the incident spoke of "fear, shock and dismay." On their return to the hotel, the cyclists reported the incident and collected evidence to hand over to the police. The team's president, Galdino Peruzzo, and sports director Dimitri Konychev expressed their concern about the increasing aggression of motorists towards cyclists in Italy.