Senegal’s defeat in football is just the latest sporting showdown to change the outcome – here are five more | UK News

The Senegal national football team has just been dropped from the Africa Cup of Nations.

That decision, The following foul in the tournament final, was controversial but far from unique. This is just the latest example in a series of altered sporting titles or results.

Ben Johnson 1988

Canada’s Ben Johnson shocked the world with a record-breaking time of 9.79 seconds in the 100m sprint final to secure the gold medal at the 1988 Olympics.

Her performance was the talk of the Olympics – but just three days later, her reputation was in ruins.

The International Olympic Committee said samples from the athlete tested positive for steroids and he was stripped of his title and disqualified from the Games.

American sprinter Carl Lewis was instead awarded the title for his new American record of 9.92 seconds in one of the most controversial heats in top-level sport.

The gold medal was canceled 18 months later

This week also saw another result annulled – 18 months after it was recorded.

Adaejah Hodge, a sprinter from the British Virgin Islands, won gold in the 200m at the 2024 world junior track and field championships in Peru.

Samples taken from the runners found banned substances – sulfone GW501516 and sulfoxide GW501516.

The Athletic Integrity Unit agreed that he did not take it intentionally. However, he was banned from playing for two years, with a suspension of seven months.

That means she loses her 200m title from August 2024. The title instead goes to Australia’s Torrie Lewis.

Arsenal-Sheffield United FA Cup controversy

The Gunners beat Sheffield United 2-1 in an FA Cup fifth round tie at Highbury in 1999 – but in controversial circumstances.

The Blades kicked the ball out of play to allow the player to receive treatment. However, after the throw-in, Arsenal did not regain control of the ball and instead divided the field for Marc Overmars to score the winning goal.

The furore over the incident made sporting headlines, and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger eventually offered United the chance to erase the result and replay the match.

Ten days later the match was played again at Highbury. It ended with the same result – a 2-1 win for Arsenal.

Bundesliga results change

In December 2024, Bochum and Union Berlin drew 1-1 in the German Bundesliga.

But after a poor game, Bochum protested the result as their goalkeeper Patrick Drewes required lengthy treatment when he was hit by a match thrown from the crowd.

Drewes did not continue playing. This made Bochum place striker Philipp Hoffman as goalkeeper because they had already used a substitute.

Both teams failed to launch any significant attacks and the match ended in a draw. However the German Football Association then awarded the match to Bochum, recording a 2–0 win.

The court later upheld the move despite an appeal from Berlin.

Tour de France cyclist loses title

Lance Armstrong is stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from cycling for life, the US Anti-Doping Agency announced in 2012.

This comes after the American cyclist said he was dropping his fight against the agency’s allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs to win the sport’s most prestigious events from 1999 to 2005.

USADA claims the cyclist used banned substances including the blood enhancer EPO and steroids, as well as blood transfusions.

Armstrong maintained his innocence and sued in federal court to have the charges dismissed, but lost.