Man Utd star banned for 30 years and six other staggering sports suspensions

Daily Mirror

9 hours ago

A number of the world's leading athletes throughout history have found themselves suspended from their respective sports - including a Manchester United player who was initially banned for life
A Manchester United star was once banned for life for match fixing. After plying his trade with Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest, Enoch West made his way to the Red Devils in 1910.
A prolific centre-forward, he racked up 72 goals in 166 appearances for United - but his heroic stint was marred with controversy after just five years. That's because in 1915, West and four of his team-mates, as well as three Liverpool players, were banned for life after being convicted of match-fixing.
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As many of those who received suspensions went off to fight for their country during the First World War, they saw them rescinded upon returning. However, West refused to adhere to the stipulation, and as a result, his ban stayed in place for 30 years before it was eventually lifted in 1945.
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The longest suspension in Football Association history, West never played professionally ever again, given he was 59 when his ban expired. And he is just one of a number of athletes who have been banned for one reason or another throughout their respective careers...
Lou Vincent
Lou Vincent was handed a lifetime ban from playing cricket at any level, as well as entering any cricket ground or working in a professional coaching capacity in July 2014, after admitting to match-fixing offences. The New Zealand batter released an open letter which saw him admit to his "dark secret" which "shamed" not only himself, but also his country and the sport.
After his suspension commenced, Vincent became a builder in Raglan. However, following a successful appeal in December 2023, his lifetime ban from domestic cricket was lifted, which allowed him to return to play and coach outside of the international game.
Lance Armstrong
One of the most famous cases of doping in sporting history, Lance Armstrong was handed a lifetime ban by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in 2012. As a result, the American - who won the Tour de France seven years in a row between 1999 and 2005 after recovering from testicular cancer - saw all of his major accomplishments on the roads and tracks of the world scrubbed from history.
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Ben Johnson
While Ben Johnson's rise to superstardom was unprecedented to say the least - breaking the 100-metre and 60-metre world records and winning a gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul - his downfall was equally as shocking. The Canadian sprinter tested positive for Stanozolol after the Olympics, while he admitted to having used steroids in the past.
As a result, Johnson was later banned for two years and stripped of his Olympic medal for doping offences. Despite a brief comeback in 1991, he was once again found guilty of doping just two years later, and was banned for life by World Athletics.
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Hansie Cronje
One of the country's most idolised stars, South African Test Cricket captain Hansie Cronje was handed a lifetime ban from the sport in 2000. Cronje, alongside Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje and Pieter Strydom, was caught up in allegations of match-fixing, with the King Commission banning him from any involvement in cricket for life as a result.
Despite challenging his ban the following year, his application was dismissed and he remained forbidden from competing in the sport.
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Liang Wenbo & Li Hang
Liang Wenbo and Li Hang were among the snooker stars caught out in a widespread match-fixing ring in China, which rocked the sport in 2023. While eight others were suspended during the investigation, including 2025 World Snooker Champion Zhao Xintong, Liang and Li were deemed to have fixed matches, to have persuaded and encouraged others to fix matches, and to have bet on matches themselves.
As a result, they each received lifetime bans. Zhao, meanwhile, was given a ban of one year and eight months, reduced from two-and-a-half years for early admissions of wrongdoing and his guilty plea. While the 28-year-old never rigged matches himself, he did accept charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches and betting on games himself.