While 2010 saw plenty of sporting success on the field, once again there was no shortage of stars both at home and abroad making headlines off field for all the wrong reasons.
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Players from a diverse range of sports including soccer, AFL, NRL, American football - not to mention golf - got into a variety of sticky situations this year, with some having past exploits in their personal lives aired for the very first time.
Once these dodgy dalliances bubbled to the surface, it became messy, very messy. Marriages were shattered, lucrative endorsement deals were flushed down the toilet and clubs could no longer hold onto players who had stuffed up in very big ways.
Leading the pack was champion golfer Tiger Woods, who hit the spotlight for reasons other than winning yet another tournament late last year. The ongoing saga of his dalliances with more than 100 women kept newspapers selling and mouses clicking well into this year.
Some superstars couldn't keep their fingers to themselves as texting became all the rage for athletes looking for a bit of extra-curricular activity outside the family mansion.
And soccer stars messing with teammates or ex-teammates missuses? C'mon, have they never heard of a bloke called Wayne Carey?
The flipside of fame means things don't stay secret for long for people constantly in the gaze of the public eye. Eventually the details emerge, presenting mouth-watering fodder for the public at home and overseas.
Here's nine of the best sporting scandals:
1. Tiger Woods
It seemed to go downhill for the world's first billionaire sportsman when he arrived in Melbourne for last year's Australian Masters tournament. American tabloid The National Enquirer reported prominent New York nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel had flown into Australia to pay Woods a visit while he was staying at the Crown hotel.
In early December, Woods infamously crashed his car outside his Florida home after a falling-out with his wife Elin Nordegren, the mother of his two children, allegedly provoked when the alleged affairs were being "discussed". Soon after, other magazines named two more women - a Los Angeles cocktail waitress and a Las Vegas club promoter - as having regular flings with the world's best golfer.
Then more and more names came forward, and in April this year, The National Enquirer reported Woods as having confessed to cheating with as many as 120 women behind his wife's back during their five-year marriage. The golfer was said to have listed all the women he had liaisons with as part of his treatment for sex addiction at a Mississippi rehab centre.
In October, the pair finally divorced, with Nordegren reportedly receiving a $US100 million settlement from 33-year-old Woods. The golfer - who went through 2010 without a tournament win and lost his coveted world No.1 ranking to Lee Westwood - also lost $US22 million in endorsements after AT&T, Gatorade and Accenture, among others, pulled out after learning of his prowess at scoring birdies away from the golf course.
2. Joel Monaghan
The former Canberra Raiders centre landed in hot water after a photograph of him engaging in a lewd act with a dog in some end-of-season shenanigans surfaced on the internet.
The 28-year-old quit the NRL team and couldn't contain his emotions during the announcement. "I don't want to damage this great club anymore because of this stupid prank," he said. "They're my actions and I'm totally responsible. Alcohol is no excuse. I'd love more than anything to take it back but I can't."
Of course you can't Joel, who expects to cop no shortage of flak when he makes his English Super League debut next year for Warrington.
"All that nonsense that went on in Australia is water under the bridge as far as we're concerned," Monaghan's new captain Adrian Morley said.
Good luck telling that to the fans in England - it is likely there will be many more dog days ahead for this fallen star.
3. Brendan Fevola
Not an AFL season goes by when Brisbane Lions spearhead Brendan Fevola doesn't find himself in a pickle.
This time around alcohol wasn't to blame, but instead a brainless decision by Fevola to take a nude shower photograph of model Lara Bingle back in 2006 during their brief affair.
The pic came to light this year and landed him in big trouble, again, with the AFL. It also played a part in Bingle's eventual split with the vice-captain of the Australian Test team, Michael Clarke.
The former Carlton forward admitted he took the offending picture but the League said it could not be proved he was responsible for its distribution around the traps.
Still, the neanderthal behaviour of Fev sent another wrecking ball through the AFL's battle plans to present itself and its players as a "female friendly", modern sporting code.
4. Shane Warne
Fresh reports of a fling between Shane Warne and English supermodel Liz Hurley came to light in recent weeks, pouring cold water on the much peddled rumour Warnie was being sized up as a replacement captain to save the struggling Australian Test team.
Not for the first time, Warne's so-called bedroom antics have cost him. Previous indiscretions during his playing career saw him stripped of the Test vice-captaincy in 2000 and miss out on becoming the captain of the one-day team in 2002. His Channel Nine contract was also ripped up in 2005.
Questions are now being asked about the status of Hurley's marriage to Indian tycoon Arun Nayar, even though the actress wrote on Twitter that they separated a "few months ago".
The UK tabloid News of the World claimed the Hurley and Warne were captured on video in a series of ''sizzling public clinches'', while Warne had been flirting with Hurley via Twitter for months.
According to "trusty" sources, the tabloid claimed the online tomfoolery with Hurley happened well after he and on-again, off-again wife Simone Callahan had separated - despite them living under the same roof but in separate bedrooms of their plush suburban Melbourne home.
5. Ashley Cole
Like many before and after him, the Chelsea and England defender is an absolute nutter.
A stunning pop star wife in the form of Cheryl Cole beside him wasn't enough for Ashley, who instead preferred to engage in some "text sex" with a topless model.
The scandal for the Coles occurred early this year when a model Sonia Wild, 28, claimed to have received nude pictures of the Chelsea defender along with suggestive text messages.
Media reports said she replied with naked images of herself and claims she had "text sex" with the player.
This came just two years after Ashley had an affair with a hairdresser, along with numerous other women.
It seems this guy doesn't learn, with a divorce settlement figure of £4.5 million to the singer being bandied about recently.
6. Wayne Rooney
Tabloids went into overdrive when it was claimed Wayne Rooney was cavorting with a £1000-a-night prostitute while his wife Coleen was pregnant with their son, Kai.
The Mirror newspaper claimed the Manchester United striker was using the services of a 21-year-old call girl and even went as far as wheeling her out to VIP events throughout Manchester.
Rooney's marriage is now on the rocks, especially after Coleen - his childhood sweetheart - welcomed him back in 2004 after the same paper exposed him not once, but twice, for cheating on her with prostitutes.
Once bitten, twice shy. Fat chance.
7. John Terry
A year after being named "Dad of the Year" in a poll of UK adults that was commissioned by a ketchup company, Chelsea and ex-England captain John Terry didn't seem to have embraced the honour after it was revealed he slept with the now ex-girlfriend of his England teammate.
In January this year, Terry lost a court battle to keep secret the four-month affair in late 2009 with French lingerie model and his wife's best friend, Vanessa Perroncel.
Terry, 29, who is married with three-year-old twins, was stripped of the England captaincy ahead of this year's World Cup after the claims he had a fling with the then-girlfriend of Wayne Bridge became public.
Bridge and Terry were once teammates at Chelsea, but the former joined Manchester City last year. During their first meeting after the scandal broke, Terry thrust out a hand for the customary pre-game shake only to be spectacularly snubbed by Bridge in a photo that made front pages worldwide.
8. Brett Favre
The legendary NFL quarterback has not uttered a single word this year about the alleged nude pics of himself that he sent to a former New York Jets game hostess back in 2008.
The married Favre, who now plays for the Minnesota Vikings, has preferred to concentrate on his football and not get bogged down in the controversy surrounding the alleged messages and inappropriate photos he sent to Jenn Sterger in 2008 - the 41-year-old's only season with the Jets.
Favre could be spared the litigation if the NFL decides to punish Favre over the allegations, Sterger's manager has said.
Sterger wants the matter dealt with by the time Favre retires at the end of the year, as apparently her main objective is to get acknowledgement that the former Green Bay Packers star was in the wrong.
9. Tony Parker
Winning several NBA championships with the talented San Antonio Spurs and having a gorgeous wife in Desperate Housewives actress Eva Longoria to boot just simply wasn't enough for French basketball star Tony Parker.
Longoria last month filed for divorce after she found text messages Parker exchanged with the wife of former Spurs teammate, Brent Barry, according to TMZ.
"It was flirtatious, but he never did anything with her," a source close to Parker told People magazine.
TMZ reported Parker had also denied having had sex with Erin Barry, but that didn't stop Longoria from filing divorce papers at an LA court - citing "irreconcilable differences".
What's that they say in basketball circles ... "Reeeee-jected!"
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