Poor Sports Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sebastian Vettel

In the 2016 Mexican F1 Grand Prix, Max Verstappen refused to concede third place to Vettel during the closing stages, despite having to cut a corner on the 68th lap to defend his position. Yelling into the radio, Vettel berated Verstappen and the race officials. In the meantime, the third placed driver, Daniel Ricciardo gained on Vettel.

Verstappen was penalised for cutting Vettel off; in turn, Vettel lost his position on the podium to Ricciardo because during his tirade he had swerved while braking when defending against Ricciardo. Vettel was demoted to fifth behind Verstappen.

Answer: Ricky Ponting

Cricket is supposed to be a gentlemen's game. Ponting momentarily forgot that during the 2010 Boxing Day Ashes Test, when he remonstrated with umpire Aleem Dar. Australia was playing traditional rivals England, and Australia needed wickets badly.

Kevin Pietersen was given 'not out' from a Ryan Harris delivery, and Australian captain Ricky Ponting requested a video review by the Third Umpire. The review revealed no 'hot spot' where the ball passed Pietersen's bat (which would demonstrate that the ball had been hit and therefore indicate Pietersen was out). Ponting then had a row with Aleem Dar, and followed that up with an exchange of words with Pietersen and the other ground umpire. Ponting pleaded guilty to a Level 1 offence and was fined 40% of his match fee for his bad behaviour after he continued to argue about the decision even after the following over, when he was fielding near the square leg umpire.

Answer: Lance Armstrong

The Tour de France is a gruelling test of strength, tactics and stamina, and when Lance Armstrong won the event every year from 1999 to 2005 and placed third in 2009, questions were raised. Armstrong eventually admitted that he had used diuretics and human growth hormone.

He also accepted that he had used drugs to boost the number of red blood cells in the bloodstream (called blood doping) as well as falsifying documents saying he passed drug tests. Following these revelations, Armstrong was stripped of the titles in 2012 and was hit with multiple lawsuits.

He was banned from competition, effectively ending his career.

Answer: Sean Avery

Canadian-born professional ice hockey player, Sean Avery was playing for the New York Rangers in 2008 when he displayed unsportsmanlike tactics in an attempt to intimidate opposition goalkeeper Martin Brodeur. He waved his hands and stick in the goalie's face, effectively blocking the goalie's vision.

It worked, and the Rangers scored a goal, helping them to win the match. There was uproar and a day later, the NHL announced that henceforth this behaviour would result in a two-minute minor penalty.

The bad conduct by Avery, which violated a previously unwritten rule, resulted in the so-called "Avery Rule" -- hockey players were no longer allowed to stand directly in front of the goalie and wave his or her stick in the opposing goalie's face. Avery already had a poor reputation, as he was known for being aggressive and disrespectful, and many players felt that his behaviour was an insult to the game.

Answer: Serena Williams

At the US Tennis Open in 2018, when the chair umpire Carlos Ramos ruled that her mentor had coached her in violation of the rules, Serena Williams blew a gasket. She called the umpire a "thief" and a "liar", eventually broke her racquet by smashing it on the ground, and wound up in a 6-2, 6-4 loss to the 21-year-old Japanese player Naomi Osaka.

She was fined a total of USD $17,000, and sadly, drew attention away from a fine performance by rising star Naomi Osaka.

Answer: Mike Tyson

At 20-years old, Mike Tyson became the youngest heavyweight boxing champion of the world in 1987, but he was notorious for disturbed and angry behaviour. Jailed for rape in 1992, biting a chunk out of the ear of Evander Holyfield in a 1997 fight (he said he'd had enough of Holyfield head butting him), and then brawling with Lennox Lewis before their match in 2002, his career was blighted by constant issues in and out of the ring.

He hung up his gloves in 2005 and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011.

Answer: Angel Matos

And that kick to the face of Swiss match referee Chakir Chelbat earned Angel Matos a life-time ban. As if the kick wasn't bad enough, he spat on the floor as he was dragged out by his team. The cause of Matos's ire was that when he had taken more than the allotted injury time, the contest was awarded to Kazakhstan's Arman Chilmanov.

Answer: Hope Solo

Solo was undoubtedly one of the USA's best ever players, but was dogged by her bad temper. The 2007 decision to bench her at the FIFA World Cup (held in China) led to publically criticising the team's coach, Greg Ryan. Her teammates were incensed by her remarks and not only refused to eat meals with her, they refused to fly home with her.

In later years, indiscreet social media comments got her into more trouble and she was suspended.

Answer: Latrell Sprewell

Some days it doesn't pay to be the coach. The coach, P.J. Carlesimo, was...well....coaching, and instructed Sprewell to "put a little mustard" on a pass. Sprewell grabbed Carlesimo around the neck and began choking him. He had to be dragged off but came back 20 minutes later for another go.

The penalty he received was a year-long suspension, the longest ever handed out by the NBA. Later the sentence was later reduced to 68 games; this cost Sprewell around $6,000,000. He was traded from the Golden State Warriors to the New York Knicks, and after 4 years, he was traded again to the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he spent 13 seasons.

Answer: Zinedine Zidane

In an otherwise mostly blameless career, Zidane flew off the handle in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final, his very last game, because of the comments made to him by his Italian his opponent, Marco Materazzi, in extra time. He slammed his head into Materazzi's chest and was thrown out of the game.

This resulted in the French side losing on penalties, leaving them the runners up and Italy with their fourth FIFA championship.