 "While Imane Khelif and Vinesh Phogat courted controversy in the Paris Olympics, the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy had been in a state of limbo for the longest time due to the dispute between the BCCI and the PCB. Image credit: Reuters/AP/PCB")
The year 2024 was full of high-octane sporting action. The biggest of them all was the 33rd Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Paris, with the French capital hosting the world’s biggest multi-sporting event for an unprecedented third time. Football had major multi-sporting events such as the Euro and Copa America while cricket had the T20 World Cup taking place in both the men’s as well as the women’s game. The year was also a special one for the Indian sports fraternity with some historic achievements in chess, including a golden sweep at the 45th Olympiad in Budapest and D Gukesh becoming the youngest world champion in the history of the sport earlier this month.
In a sporting calendar as packed as 2024 is naturally bound to witness a few unpleasant incidents. And as the year draws to a close, we take a look at some of the biggest controversies from the year gone by:
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
Starting with the very beginning of the biggest sporting event of the year — the Paris Olympics. The event kicked off in a unique fashion, ditching the tradition of national contingents marching out at the main Olympic Stadium and having them paraded on boats along River Seine. What became a major controversy in the rain-marred opening ceremony though, was a performance on a tableau involving drag queens that appeared to depict, or rather parody, Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper. The performance was slammed as “blasphemous” and an “abomination” and angered the French Catholic Church as well as Christians, and even Muslims, around the world.
Imane Khelif gender row
There were plenty of controversial moments in this year’s Olymipcs, and arguably the biggest of them all was the participation of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif in the women’s welterweight (66kg) category in the Paris Games. Doubts over Khelif’s eligibility to participate in women’s boxing arose after she defeated Italy’s Angela Carini in just 46 seconds in her opening bout.
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US President-Elect Donald Trump, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Harry Potter author JK Rowling were among those who criticised her participation, though that did not stop her from punching her way to gold . The Algerian, though, wasn’t the only one in the Paris Games facing gender scrutiny as Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting faced similar questions due to her build and features, and like Khelif, went on to win gold.
Vinesh Phogat’s last-minute heartbreak
India’s campaign at the Paris Olympics was a bittersweet one with the country finishing with six medals – one silver and five bronze. A major heartbreak, which later snowballed into a controversy, was senior wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s last-minute disqualification for being marginally overweight by a mere 100 grams after storming into the final of the women’s 50kg event, defeating the Tokyo 2020 gold medallist along the way.
Due to Phogat’s active role in the wrestlers’ protest against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who happened to be a six-time Member of the Parliament with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, some had suspected foul play in the entire incident. Phogat, meanwhile, announced her retirement right after, tried to lodge an appeal with CAS in vain and soon joined politics.
Real Madrid’s Ballon d’Or boycott
Defending Spanish and European champions Real Madrid, meanwhile, made headlines for the wrong reasons during this year’s Ballon d’Or after they got word that Manchester City defensive midfielder Rodri, and not Vinicius Junior, was going to become the latest recipient of the prestigious award. Vini finished second on the Ballon d’Or list in terms of total points awarded and was followed by Madrid teammates Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal.
Igor Stimac vs AIFF
Igor Stimac’s tenure as head coach of the Indian men’s football team came to a rather forgettable end, with the former Croatian centre-back and manager getting sacked by the All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) after losing all of their matches in the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar and for failing to advance to AFC Third Round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifier.
Stimac though, got into a war of words with the Kalyan Chaubey-led organisation , describing the AIFF as “full of lies” and Indian football as “imprisoned” in an explosive statement. He would later file a complaint with FIFA over an alleged contract breach, and would eventually walk away with a compensation package of US$ 400,000.
Sinner and Swiatek doping accusations
Things haven’t been going smoothly for tennis lately with Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek finding themselves embroiled in a doping controversy. Given Sinner and Swiatek are among the biggest stars of the current generation with Sinner leading the ATP rankings and Swiatek ranked second on the WTA list, their doping charges sure don’t look good for the sport. While Sinner had twice tested positive for traces of banned sustance closebol in March, he was later cleared to compete by an independent tribunal requested by the International Tennis Integrity Agency.
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Swiatek, on the other hand, had accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for a heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) in an out-of-competition sample in August. In the four-time French Open champions’s case, the ITIA ruled that she had not intentionally consume the prohibit substance.
BCCI vs PCB over ICC Champions Trophy
What is the sport of cricket without a bit of Indo-Pak drama? Last year’s Asia Cup was supposed to be held entirely in Pakistan only for it to be conducted in a ‘Hybrid Model’ in Sri Lanka due to BCCI’s reluctance to send the Indian team across the border. The previous Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) administration did not put up much of a fight against the BCCI though they tried to sheepishly make some last-minute demands in the ODI World Cup.
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The current PCB, on the other hand, led by Mohsin Naqvi decided to stand firm on their demand that the entire event take place in their backyard, refusing to make a compromise like they did least year and at one point event threatening a boycott of the ceremony.
The ICC, however, managed to bring the two rival boards to an agreement recently , in which India were to play their matches in Dubai in the UAE and the rest were to take place in Pakistan. The move ensured that the countdown to the 2025 Champions Trophy is back online.
Goenka gives LSG captain Rahul a public dressing down
Among the lowest points of the 17th Indian Premier League (IPL) season earlier this year was Lucknow Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka giving captain KL Rahul a dressing down in full public view at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. Rahul, who had led LSG to the playoffs in the last two seasons including on debut in 2022, was under pressure to perform with the bat as well as as a leader.
The Sunrisers opening pair of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, however, made a complete mockery of the 166-run target set by the Super Giants, chasing it down with more than half of their overs to spare with all 10 wickets intact – at which point Goenka decided to have a word with his captain.
Rahul would later be released from the squad and acquired by Delhi Capitals for a sum of Rs 14 crore in the IPL auction.
New York’s minefield of a pitch in T20 World Cup
What was meant to be cricket’s proper introduction into the untapped United States market instead turned into a nightmare, at least for the batters. The Nassau County International Stadium, a modular stadium built exclusively for the purpose of the T20 World Cup earlier this year, was an absolutely minefield for batters. Former champions Sri Lanka were bowled out for 77 by the fiery Proteas attack. India would later defeat Pakistan by 6 runs in a thrilling game in which neither team could cross 120.
Not only would the ICC rate the pitch “unsatisfactory” along with the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago, it was also criticised by fans and experts alike. ““For players to have to play on this substandard surface in New York is unacceptable,” wrote former England captain Michael Vaughan in a post on X.