🚴 Biggest punishments in sport: Armstrong's stripped titles lead
Seven rulings from cycling, cricket, baseball and athletics. Butt and Gatlin dispute parts of their cases; Rodriguez said he would appeal. ⏳
By MrMuscles, sports desk · Desk editor Gustavs Ērkšķis-Kreicbergs · · 4 min read
RANKEDPhoto: Josh Hallett · CC BY-SA 2.0What we know
- USADA's doping case ended in 2012 with Lance Armstrong stripped of seven Tour de France titles and banned for life, per the Pantheon record.
- An ICC tribunal found the spot-fixing charges proved against Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, BBC Sport reported; Butt's lawyer said his client maintains his innocence.
- Major League Baseball suspended Alex Rodriguez for 211 games over performance-enhancing drugs and obstruction, the Guardian reported; he said he would appeal.
- MLB fined the Houston Astros $5 million and removed their first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021, USA Today reported; the club then fired manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow.
MrMuscles, Sports desk, with the scoreboard. Seven penalties from cycling, cricket, baseball and athletics, each ranked by the MrScandal Scandal Score from 0 to 100, each handed down by an anti-doping agency, a tribunal, a league commissioner or the Olympic body. No highlights reel, just the rulings and what the other side said back.
| Rank | Who | Year | Scandal Score | Money on record | Record | Why it ranks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lance Armstrong | 2012 | 97 | $7.5 million (about $11.0 million in 2026 dollars) | Adjudicated | Seven Tour titles, an Olympic bronze and a lifetime ban |
| 2 | Salman Butt | 2011 | 93 | None on record | Adjudicated | Bans for three players and suspended central contracts |
| 3 | Alex Rodriguez | 2013 | 87 | None on record | Adjudicated | A 211-game suspension plus 12 further suspensions |
| 4 | Houston Astros | 2020 | 81 | $5 million fine, the highest allowable (about $6.4 million in 2026 dollars) | Adjudicated | Maximum fine, forfeited draft picks and two firings |
| 5 | Ben Johnson | 1988 | 80 | None on record | Adjudicated | Olympic 100m gold stripped within days; national team ban for life |
| 6 | Floyd Landis | 2006 | 80 | None on record | Adjudicated | Tour winner tested positive days after winning; team fired him |
| 7 | Justin Gatlin | 2008 | 80 | None on record | Adjudicated | Four-year ban on a 2-1 panel vote |
Lance Armstrong: stripped of seven Tour de France titles
The United States Anti-Doping Agency stripped Armstrong of his record seven Tour de France titles and banned him for life, Reuters reported on Oct. 16, 2012. The record puts $7.5 million on the case, about $11.0 million in 2026 dollars.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)Salman Butt: ICC ban over the Lord's Test spot-fixing
An ICC tribunal found the charges proved that Butt was party to deliberate no-balls in the Lord's Test, BBC Sport reported, and gave him a 10-year ban with five years suspended. Mohammad Asif received seven years with two suspended and Mohammad Amir five years. Butt's lawyer Yasin Patel said his client maintains his innocence and disagrees with the verdict, and the Pakistan Cricket Board separately suspended the central contracts of all three.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)By the numbers
- 3 mofrom first to latest entry on record
- 10receipts behind this story
Alex Rodriguez: 211 games over Biogenesis
Major League Baseball suspended Rodriguez for 211 games, saying in a statement it was for his "use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone" and for trying to obstruct its investigation, the Guardian reported. Asked whether he denied using drugs, Rodriguez told reporters "we'll have a forum to discuss all of that"; his lawyer said he would appeal. Twelve other players took 50-game suspensions, and a youth anti-drug group said it would discontinue its relationship with him.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)Houston Astros: sign-stealing fine and lost picks
MLB fined the Astros $5 million, which USA Today reported as the maximum allowed, and stripped first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021, in what the paper called the most severe punishment against a team in the league's history. Commissioner Rob Manfred suspended Luhnow and Hinch for a year; owner Jim Crane fired both within the hour. Luhnow "adamantly denies knowledge" of the schemes, while Hinch admits he did not stop them.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)Ben Johnson: Seoul gold stripped
Sports Illustrated reported that Johnson ran the 100m in 9.79 seconds at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, then tested positive for the steroid stanozolol a day later. The IOC executive board found him guilty of violating its rules, declared the race null, stripped his gold and awarded it to Carl Lewis. Canada's sports minister Jean Charest announced a lifetime ban from the national team; Johnson's manager Larry Heidebrecht insisted foul play was involved, and Johnson said nothing in public.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)Floyd Landis: Tour winner, positive test
Days after winning the 2006 Tour de France, Landis's Phonak team revealed he had tested positive for an unusual testosterone level after stage 17, BBC Sport reported. His own doctor told the New York Times the ratio was 11 to one against a limit of four to one. Landis denied cheating and said his levels are naturally high; the Pantheon record lists the stripped title and Phonak firing him.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)Justin Gatlin: four-year ban confirmed
BBC Sport reported that an arbitration panel voted 2-1 for a four-year ban after Gatlin's positive testosterone test at the Kansas Relays in April 2006, down from the eight years USADA first imposed in exchange for his cooperation. He cannot race until 24 May 2010. Gatlin accepts that he tested positive but says he never knowingly used banned substances.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)How the score works: https://mrscandal.com/pantheon/methodology
Earlier on file: Astros fined $5M, lose four draft picks; Hinch, Luhnow suspended · Biggest sports punishments: Astros' $5M fine, two firings top · A-Rod dropped his suits after a 162-game ban cost him $25M
The Lance Armstrong file
- Reported
Armstrong's televised interview with Oprah Winfrey, aired January 17, 2013 Lance Armstrong stripped of 7 Tour titles; Nike and Trek walk
- Reported
UCI accepted USADA's findings and stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour titles (the source reports acceptance of the findings, not a declined appeal) Lance Armstrong stripped of 7 Tour titles; Nike and Trek walk
- Reported
Nike statement terminating its sponsorship of Armstrong Lance Armstrong stripped of 7 Tour titles; Nike and Trek walk
On file: The Lance Armstrong file · The Alex Rodriguez file · The Ben Johnson file · The Floyd Landis file · The Houston Astros file · The Justin Gatlin file · The Salman Butt file
The Ledger
On the record
- An anti-doping agency, a tribunal, a league commissioner, the Olympic body and an arbitration panel each handed down the penalties listed in the table, with the figures as stated.
Still rumour
- Appeal outcomes for Rodriguez, Butt and Gatlin are not stated in the documents read.
That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MrMuscles
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