As much as we idolize footballers and envy their lives, it is without question that fame and attention has its drawbacks as well. When it comes to men, there is, apparently, a need to push the boundaries with women in a sexual nature. We have seen it so many times that it has come to a point that it is not made as big a deal anymore as compared to 10 years ago.

Scandals like these go on till today but there are a few footballers who stand out due to their status in world football or the magnitude of the situation.

We take a look at some of the biggest scandals to hit the football world.

John Terry

We had to start this list with John Terry of course. The man was already notorious for sleeping around whilst married Toni Poole and at one point also promised he would never cheat on her “again”. It didn’t take long for that promise to be broken and with ex-England team mate Wayne Bridge’s wife Vanessa Perroncel no less.  

Whatever the status of their marriage was at the time, there is just no excuse for sleeping with a team mate’s WAG (Wives and Girlfriends). The affair cost Terry his friendship with Bridge but not his marriage.

Mesut Ozil

Another case of sleeping with a fellow footballer’s significant other. Mesut Ozil had already made the move to Arsenal and enjoying all the plaudits with his performances. Things took a turn for the worse when it was alleged by ex-Bayern Munich defender Christian Lell that Ozil had an affair with his girlfriend Melanie Rickinger while he was still with her.

Although they had not been team mates for a long time, Ozil still had to bear the shame of the allegations.

Ryan Giggs

Ryan Giggs was the star of Manchester United for a long time and married his long time partner Stacey Cooke in the late 2000s. He had everything going for him, the legend status at Old Trafford, a great wife and the squeaky-clean image.

That image was tarnished when allegations broke of an affair with model Imogen Thomas but that was not even the worst part. Reports soon surfaced that he had another affair with his brother’s wife. Put aside a team mate’s WAG, your brother’s?

Ronaldo

Ronaldo is a legend of the game but was not immune to the scandal train. He was engaged in 2008 but had decided to have a meeting with 3 call-girls. Unfortunately for him, they turned out to be men who showed up to blackmail him into keeping the whole situation under wraps. It didn’t.

Although the scandal tarnished his image at that point in time, it does not appear to have done long lasting damage as he managed to make amends with his fiancée.

Royston Drenthe

Royston Drenthe is by far not the famous on this list but his response to a simple question would go down as legendary. He was alleged to have had an affair with a Playboy model while his wife was pregnant with his second child. That appeared to be not a good enough deterrent and when asked how often he has sex, his response was a well-crafted, “With my wife, you mean?”

Legend.

Ashley Cole

Ashley Cole had more than the “Cashley Cole” saga during his career. He was having an amazing career and a relationship with popstar Cheryl who eventually became his wife. The couple split in 2010 after multiple allegations of infidelity hit the footballer.

It didn’t take him long to get back on the wagon though, sealing his notoriety when he beat John Terry to first place in a poll of 3000 women titled “The Most Hated Man in Britain”. Brutal.

Thibaut Courtois

Courtois joins the list after he was named as the person she had cheated with. Her boyfriend turned out to be then-Chelsea team mate Kevin De Bruyne. The affair took place while Courtois was on-loan at Atletico but that did not stop him.

They appear to have made amends and play in the Belgium side together.

Michael Ballack

In the case of Ballack and Ozil, the name Christian Lell pops up again. Poor Christian. Ballack seemed to be happy after he married his long-time beau Simone Lambe in 2008. In 2010 though, Lell accused his German team mate of impregnating his girlfriend Daniella Aumann.

What is with this guy?

Mauro Icardi

The biggest story of betrayal ever. Mauro Icardi had always looked up to his Sampdoria team mate Maxi Lopez and became very close to he and his wife during their time at the club. However, things turned sour after Icardi married Lopez’s wife within 5 months of their divorce.

Needless to say, the relationship between Icardi and Lopez was never repaired.

Tomas Rosicky

After a loss to Germany in 2007, a reporter posing as a fan looking for autograph caught Rosicky and a couple of Czech players in a room with a number of call girls. Everyone denied anything had happened that night despite the obvious nature of that meeting in the room. Although he wasn’t the only one involved, Rosicky became the scapegoat due to his status at the time.

Everyone involved were fined for the incident and Rosicky patched things up with his girlfriend.

Thierry Henry

Henry appeared to have the model life at Arsenal but things changed quickly when he moved to Barcelona. Soon after the transfer, he separated from his wife Claire Merry, with “unreasonable behaviour” cited as the grounds.

This happened in the midst of allegations that Henry had links to make-up artist Sadie Hewlett, costing the Frenchman 8 million pounds in the divorce.

Franck Ribery/Karim Benzema

Ribery appeared to be devoted to his wife Wahiba, whom he had converted to Islam for. In 2009, a call girl by the name of Zahia Dehar was paid to have sex with Ribery as a birthday present whilst being only 16 at the time. French team mate Karim Benzema was among those were involved in the whole scandal.

They were both charged with paying an under-age person for sex but the charges were dropped as there was no proof that the money was for sex.

Wayne Rooney

Rooney had been known to frequent “massage” parlours even before his move to United but the tipping point in the media was when he was accused by prostitute Jennifer Thompson of having sex with her.

Rooney was at a high point in his career at the time so that would have been big by itself but it was also found out to have taken place while his long-time girlfriend and wife was pregnant. The couple has stayed together throughout this time.