6 Athletes Who Lost Everything After One Mistake

Clayton Lewis – A Yellow Card For $10,000

New Zealand international Clayton Lewis was a professional footballer with the All Whites. In December 2023, while suffering from a gambling addiction, he was approached by a team captain with an offer: deliberately get a yellow card in an A-League match for AU$10,000. Lewis agreed. He was arrested, charged with corrupting a betting outcome, and banned from football for five years. “My whole world got flipped upside down,” he said. “I’ve lost the one thing that I truly loved… I dedicated myself since I was four years old to be a professional footballer”. He was 29 years old. His career was over for a card he didn’t even need to take.