John Terry and the 15 Biggest Troublemakers in World Football

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Unfortunately, troublemakers in football are commonplace.

The trouble they cause can come in many formats such as being arrested, going A.W.O.L., falling out with teammates or just being out of line on the football pitch.

They're the type of player who can upset the dressing room and give a manager a real headache.

Due to their superstar status, footballers often are given a reprieve for their stupid behaviour but here we'll remind readers of some of the games more nefarious characters.

John Terry

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John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy twice and is currently facing CPS charges for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand in a Premier League game.

Terry was first stripped of the England captaincy after allegedly sleeping with a fellow player's girlfriend.

Who needs enemies when John Terry is in town?

Luis Suarez

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Suarez received an eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra in a Premier League game and then refused to shake the player's hand in the subsequent follow-up game.

Suarez has previously bitten an opponent when playing in the Eredivisie for Ajax, and his International handball against Ghana stopped the African team from progressing into the 2010 World Cup semifinals.

Suarez is never far from a media storm these days.

The French National Team

After Nicholas Anelka was excluded from the French national team for spouting profanities towards his coach during the 2010 World Cup, the rest of the squad mutinied against Raymond Domenech and refused to train.

As a punishment Anelka was banned for 18 International games, Patrice Evra for five games, Franck Ribery three games and Jeremy Toulalan for one game.

Carlos Tevez

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Since refusing to warm up in a Champions League game for Manchester City, Tevez has been ousted from first team action by Roberto Mancini.

Tevez then fled to Argentina and City stopped paying his wages.

Tevez has since returned and may yet feature for the Citizens before the season is out.

City tried and failed to sell Tevez in the January transfer window, but they could not agree a fee with the various interested clubs.

Tevez is a headache.

Joey Barton

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Queens Park Rangers midfielder Joey Barton always seems to be in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Whether it's due to prison sentencing for assault, stubbing a cigarette out in a teammate's eye or punching a player on the pitch, Barton has done it all.

Oh, did I mention he assaulted his teammate in training and nearly detached the player's retina?

The list goes on and on.

 

Craig Bellamy

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Liverpool forward Criag Bellamy was once nicknamed "the nutter with the putter" after an argument broke out between himself and John Arne Riise over a karaoke song.

Bellamy is reported to have attacked Riise with a golf club as a result.

Prior to this strange method of solving an argument, Bellamy was cautioned by police for assaulting a woman outside a nightclub in Newcastle.

Bellamy seems to have calmed a little of late under the guidance of Kenny Dalglish.

Gennaro Gattuso

AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso got so incensed at the loss his team was suffering against Tottenham that he decided to headbutt first team coach Joe Jordan, after he had already pushed him in the throat.

Gattuso has suffered many a bout of hotheadedness over the years and this was his pinnacle.

Jermaine Pennant

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It's been a quiet couple of years since Jermaine Pennant was jailed for drunk driving offences after being arrested driving down the road with a lamp post stuck to the underbelly of his car.

Pennant was sentenced to 90 days in prison due to the fact he was already banned from driving when the offence took place.

He was the first footballer to play the game wearing a court issued tagging device.

Pennant was also once arrested in relation to a sexual assault case.

Jonathon Woodgate

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Stoke City defender Jonathan Woodgate was once banned from being selected for England due to his involvement in an affray on an Asian student in 2000.

Woodgate had previously been involved in two assaults during his younger years but now seems to have calmed down as he has aged.

 

Kelvin Etuhu

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Former Manchester City player Kelvin Etuhu was released from his contract with the Citizens following his arrest and subsequent jail sentencing for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray in 2011.

The incident involved Etuhu kicking and punching a man in a street fight outside a casino in Manchester.

Etuhu has since signed for Portsmouth until the end of the season.

Mario Balotelli

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Is he misunderstood, a little crazy, mischievous or a troublemaker?

There are many different theories regarding the antics of Mario Balotelli, but any player who throws darts out of a first floor window in the direction of youth players due to boredom is a troublemaker in my book.

Balotelli is somewhat of a media pin up these days and was recently banned for four matches due to stamping on Spurs Scott Parker.

Omar Ortiz

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If you consider Mario Balotelli's actions a misdemeanor, consider the accusations that were directed at Mexican professional goalkeeper Omar Ortiz.

Ortiz was accused of being involved in the drug-running Gulf Cartel which kidnapped the husband of a Mexican pop star.

Ortiz was sent to prison for his involvement in various kidnappings and was banned from football for two years after he tested positive for steroids.

Bruno

Brazilian goalkeeper Bruno Fernandes das Dores de Souza—or Bruno for short—was charged with murdering his ex-lover, who claimed she was also the mother of his child.

Eliza Samudio was allegedly taken by force from a hotel in Rio de Janeiro, strangled and fed to dogs.

Needless to say, his club Flamengo suspended the player upon hearing the news.

Adrian Mutu

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Former Chelsea and Romania striker Adrian Mutu was kicked out of the London club after testing positive for cocaine use.

Mutu then signed for Juventus before moving to Fiorentina where he failed a doping test.

At one stage in his career, Mutu was banned for life after being caught drinking the night before an International friendly game against San Marino.

Mutu has since been recalled to the national team and currently plays for Cesena in Serie A.

Nile Ranger

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Newcastle striker Nile Ranger is only in his early twenties but he has already fallen afoul of the law on multiple occasions.

After being arrested and bailed on suspicion of assault, the lanky forward was then arrested two weeks later on suspicion of drunk driving.

Ranger was charged with both offences and told by Newcastle staff to start looking for a new club.

Afterthoughts

As humans, we all make mistakes.

Being a footballer is not without its pitfalls, as any mistake you do make ends up being front page news and becomes reading fodder for the world to see.

Footballers earn a lot of money, for the most part, and sometimes they come into that money at a very young age.

Fame and fortune seem to blur people's vision on what is right and wrong, and some of the incidents mentioned on this slideshow are inexcusable.

Let's hope that there won't be many more reasons to write another of these articles in the future!

Thanks for reading and be sure to check out my predictions for the Champions League and Europa League qualifications, as well as how each of the bottom 10 EPL teams can avoid the drop.

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