Top 10 football conspiracy theories

8. The Ronaldo and Nike theory

The 1998 World Cup was one of the most controversial in recent history, when France clinched the ultimate trophy in Football on their home soil against a surprisingly tame Brazil. Brazil’s leading goal scorer, Ronaldo, was one of the forerunners in the department of ‘playing terribly in the finals’. However, many argue that Ronaldo was actually unwell during the game, which naturally explains his dismal performance. Not only that, many said that Ronaldo decided that he was not going to feature in the game the night before, and that his name was added at the very last minute.

Now of course, it couldn’t have been the clod’s desire to bring the ultimate trophy to his home country, could it? Hence, conspiracy theorists argue that Ronaldo had been forced by Nike, the brand he was endorsing back then, to play in the finals no matter what. Of course, the brand must’ve pressurized a player of that level to bring down his own team since he was unwell, just so he could endorse their brand for a whopping 90 minutes, right?

Verdict: Fake