MEMORABLE SPORTING APOLOGIES

Over the years, athletes have played the penitent for everything from cheating at their sport to cheating on wife or for simply losing. Here are some high-profile mea culpas collated by AFP TIGER WOODS, 2010

Golf superstar Tiger Woods went on national television in 2010 to apologise to his family after a string of scandalous disclosures about his private life, including the revelation that he was a serial cheat. “I know I have severely disappointed all of you. I have made you question who I am. I am embarrassed I have put you in this position,” Woods said. “For all that, I am so sorry. I have a lot to atone for.” It eventually ended his marriage with Elin Nordegren (in pic).

LANCE ARMSTRONG, 2013

Cycling star Lance Armstrong admitted in a 2013 interview with Oprah Winfrey that he took performance-enhancing drugs. “I made my decisions. They’re my mistake. And I’m sitting here to acknowledge that and to say I’m sorry,” the seven-time Tour de France winner told Winfrey. The cancer-survivor had all his titles taken away over the scandal, which shattered his image as one of the most admired athletes for both his sporting achievements and his philanthropic work.

GIANLUIGI BUFFON, 2017

Fans reacted with shock and disbelief last year when Italy failed to qualify for the football World Cup for the first time since 1958. “I’m not sorry for myself but all of Italian football,” team captain Gianluigi Buffon said. “We failed at something which also means so much on a social level.” Buffon announced his retirement after Sweden went through at Italy’s expense.