MANCHESTER UNITED WINGER Ryan Giggs has put down another week of sordid revelations, he’s not the first sport star to find himself at the centre of a sex scndal…
1. Alex Rodriguez
The baseball star was married to Cynthia Scurtis for six years, until it emerged that he had been carrying out an affair with hairdresser Candice Houlihan. Scurtis subsequently filed for divorce, a move that was bizarrely applauded by Houlihan, who said of the decision: “A leopard doesn’t change his stripes. Good for her. I think she’s doing the smart thing. And she’ll probably get tons of cash.”
Yankees star A-Rod has since been linked with a host of high-profile celebrities including Madonna – the two even became embroiled in a sex tape controversy - and Cameron Diaz.
2. John Terry
The first high-profile footballer to lose an injunction to keep his affair a secret (no, Gary Flitcroft doesn’t count), it was revealed that Terry allegedly had an affair with Vanessa Perroncel, ex-girlfriend of former team-mate Wayne Bridge. Despite a storm of controversy at the time, Terry has recently regained the English captaincy after he lost it briefly due to his alleged behaviour.
Neither party publicly commented on the matter, though Bridge has continually refused to shake Terry’s hand at matches since. Their silence allowed chronic loudmouth Craig Bellamy to have the final say, who, when quizzed on the matter, said: “Everybody in football knows what John Terry is like off the field.”
3. Tiger Woods
In a course of events remarkably similar to Ryan Giggs’ downfall, Tiger Woods could do wrong until a string of sex scandals emerged to stain his reputation permanently. Following these embarrassing allegations, Woods subsequently attempted to save face by conducting an apologetic press conference and promising to change his ways.
However, after a lengthy absence away from the game, Woods returned. Yet given the obvious decline in his play, few would argue that he has fully recovered from the experience.
4. Kobe Bryant
In America at least, the Kobe Bryant sex scandal would have rivalled Tiger Woods’ case in terms of the shock it caused. In 2003, Bryant was accused of raping 19-year-old hotel employee Katelyn Faber. While Bryant admitted to having intercourse with his accuser, he claimed their liaison was consensual. The case was eventually settled out of court, with Bryant issuing a public apology for his actions, but still refusing to accept that Faber’s allegations were true. And unlike many stars who encountered similar experiences, Bryant seemed to fully recover from the trauma, remaining married to his wife and winning NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2008.
