Top 10 Football Controversies of 2014
In a few days we draw curtains on yet another eventful year in the World of Football and the year was made extra special due to the World Cup.We saw Germany getting crowned as the new World Champions, we saw Real Madrid win the prestigious La Decima and we even saw Borussia Dortmund end the year in the relegation zone.Even with all the highs and lows we saw throughout the year, it would be incomplete without the many controversies that we saw happen on and off the pitch.So here is a rewind of the top 10 controversies from the year 2014.Honourable Mentions: Schweinsteiger insults Borussia Dortmund in public, Assou Ekotto head butts own teammate at the World Cup and Mario Balotelli gets suspended for racists post on Social Media.
#10 Schalkes controversial win over Sporting in the Champions League
Schalke and Sporting were grouped with Chelsea for this season’s Champions’ League group stage. Chelsea were in top form and this meant that Schalke and Sporting had to fight it out between themselves for the privilege to play in the knockout stages.
Sporting took the lead in the game, but were reduced to 10 men and soon went 3-1 down in the game. The Portuguese club showed immense resilience to level the game at 3-3 with just minutes to go in the game.
The game had gone to injury time and Schalke were awarded a controversial penalty after the referee thought Sporting’s Jonathan Silva blocked Huntelaar’s shot with his hand. Replays showed that Silva used his head and the ball did not make any contact with his hand.
Choupo-Moting converted the resultant penalty and Schalke won the game 4-3.
Sporting demanded a rematch and even asked UEFA to change the game result to a draw and award one point each for both clubs. The result stayed the same, but Sporting extracted revenge by defeating Schalke 4-2 in the return leg.
Eventually Sporting finished third in the group with seven points behind second placed Schalke who had eight. Had the penalty not been awarded and the game finished level in Germany, then Sporting would have qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League and Schalke would have played in the Europa League.