VOTE: Which sport had worst year?

Did cycling have the worst year of any sport? Have your say in our online poll. Source: AP

CYCLING, swimming, AFL, NRL or racing?

It's hard to pick a definitive winner for the dubious prize of the sport that's had the worst year, but we'll help you decide with our pick of each sport's indiscretions over the past 12 months.

Read on then VOTE NOW in our online poll.

CYCLING

Scandals don't get any bigger and dirtier than the Lance Armstrong saga.

When the biggest name in the cycling history and one of the most recognisable faces of cancer survival is stripped of seven Tour de France victories and every other title he won after 1998, it's not only Armstrong who is forever tarnished, but the sport itself.

The queue of former pro cyclists who subsequently admitted drug use, including some who had since taken up positions with Cycling Australia, was almost as long as Lance's Tour routes, and the story earns extra points for murkiness because Armstrong has never been scientifically proven to have taken any of the drugs his former teammates claim he chowed down.

Thanks to USADA's successful pursuit of Armstrong and his cohorts, the sport may be infinitely cleaner, but the demolition job in the court of public opinion is likely irrepairable.

Kurt Tippett left Adelaide on a wave of controversy after it emerged he was allegedly paid huge sums of money outside the Crows' salary cap. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: adelaidenow

AFL

The best was saved for last, as is emerged Adelaide had paid gun forward Kurt Tippett extra cash outside of his contract.

The Crows are alleged to have tipped in an extra $300,000 into Tippett's pockets, while his deal also allegedly carried an illegal clause allowing him to bail on the club for a second-round pick at the end of 2012.

Given the penalties that ravaged Carlton after their salary cap rorts were uncovered 10 years ago, we're a long way from seeing the end of this one.

Speaking of Carlton, Brock McLean did his old club Melbourne no favours when he finally lifted the lid on the worst-kept secret in the AFL - the Demons had 'tanked' games in 2009.

While the AFL hierarchy still has its head in the sand over the issue, the elephant in that corner continues to grow.

He set the AFL world alight and gave Melbourne fans hope, but the Liam Jurrah story quickly soured when he was arrested and implicated in a machete attack in Alice Springs.

The talented indigenous player has since quit the Demons and is facing three charges of aggravated assault and one of unlawfully causing serious harm.

Sleeping in hardly seems a sackable offence, but Richmond finally lost patience with Daniel Connors when he took a sleeping tablet and missed a training session after a late night with Dustin Martin.

Martin copped a two-game ban but Connors was left to pick up the pieces after being dumped by the Tigers.

James Magnussen's disappointing performance in the Olympic 4 x 100m relay highlighted Australia's woes in the pool. Picture: Phil Hillyard Source: The Daily Telegraph

SWIMMING

The buck stops at Australia's dismal performance in the pool at the London Olympics, but the list of indiscretions continues to grow in a turbulent year for what was once our most successful Olympic sport.

The disastrous London campaign that saw the team fail to win a single individual gold medal - down from six in Beijing and seven in Athens - was compounded by reports of team misbehaviour and bullying in the Olympic village.

You'd think our pool stars would now be laying low, but no.

Only last week diver Matthew Mitcham revealed he battled a crystal meth addiction last year, and this week Swimming Australia boss Kevin Nial resigned and former squeaky clean golden boy Eamon Sullivan was busted for allegedly injuring two people while taking a joyride on a pensioner's motorised scooter at a buck's party.

Damien Oliver won't ride again until late next year after being banned for an illegal $10,000 bet. Picture: Andrew Tauber Source: Herald Sun

RACING

It surprises no one that thoroughbred racing is about as clean as the conversation at a sportsman's night, but this year's torrent of indiscretions is almost unmatched.

At the top of the list is the biggest name in jockeyland, Damien Oliver, being rolled for an illegal $10,000 bet.

Turns out betting on a rival horse in the same race isn't kosher, and the stench around this one will long linger because of accusations Racing Victoria delayed charging the Melbourne Cup winner to avoid the heat during the Spring Racing Carnival.

Meanwhile, fellow hoop Danny Nikolic is having a two-year holiday for threatening Racing Victoria chief steward Terry Bailey and his family.

Then you had mining gazillionaire Nathan Tinkler in strife for not paying more than $1 million in outstanding cash, and a growing number of trainers either banned or in the gun for treating horses on a race day.

The laundry is out, and it is filthy.

This was about as good as it got at the Bulldogs' mad Monday celebrations. Picture: Craig Greenhill Source: The Daily Telegraph

NRL

Nothing is surer than that a slow news day will inevitably be spiced up by some sort of rugby league scandal.

It was actually a relatively quiet year for the code, but they still managed to squeeze in a couple of sordid episodes.

It wouldn't be an NRL season without a few drunken incidents, and the Bulldogs' mad Monday antics were the pick of the bunch.

Urinating on Belmore Sports Ground in full view of the media, sexist comments towards the same group of journalists and a foul-mouthed spray by club gear stewart Fred Ciraldo had media speculating as to whether the Bulldogs returned to their old ways.

That wasn't all.

Bulldogs prop James Graham tried to make a snack out of Storm star Billy Slater's ear during the NRL grand final - an incident that earned him a 12-match ban.

And the code took six months to carefully select its new CEO, and when it did it picked a bloke who didn't know who the Australian captain was.

Dave Smith says he was picked for the job because of his business acumen, not his passion for the sport, but try telling someone on the streets of South Sydney that the man running their game doesn't know Cam Smith from Gary Ablett.