David Beckham and the Top World Football Scandals of the Week

The world football landscape is always rife with controversy, scandal and just general trouble, but never moreso than recently. 

After all, between Beckham's alleged mistress, discord at Arsenal, Steven Peinaar snubbing Stamford Bridge, and a rape in Scotland, there has been plenty of trouble to go around. 

We're breaking down the 10 biggest scandals to break in recent weeks, and giving you the lowdown on all the dirt from the soccer world. 

Rumors of footballing media juggernaut David Beckham's infidelity have been running rampant for months now, but for the first time, the LA Galaxy midfielder provided an alibi as to his whereabout that fateful night in New York.

While the "lady of the evening" claimed she'd met with Becks at the Le Parker Meridien Hotel in New York City, but the midfielder claimed he stayed with the Galaxy in the Waldorf Astoria. 

He also said that at the time he was supposed to be shtoinking the escort, he was getting a massage from a team physician in his room. 

I guess that settles that, then. 

Liverpool midfielder Ryan Babel got himself into hot water last week, when it was revealed that he had posted a doctored photo of referee Howard Webb on Twitter wearing a Manchester United jersey. 

The FA was not amused, and a hearing was scheduled for Monday of this week to determine a punishment for him. 

Now that that hearing has taken place, we have a punishment: a £10,000 fine. Babel has admitted he probably shouldn't have posted the photo, and, odds are good, we won't see this punishment appealed. 

Superb South African playmaker Steven Pienaar is headed out of Everton, but not to the team many expected him to be joining.

Pienaar was believed to be heading to play for the Blues of Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea was apparently not appealing enough for him. 

Instead, the midfielder headed to White Hart Lane and Tottenham Hotspur, deciding that Spurs presented a much better situation than Chelsea. 

While Spurs are lower in the table than the Blues, Pienaar clearly felt that they were trending in an upward direction. 

Denilson, the 22-year-old Arsenal midfielder, is doing a stellar job of causing trouble at Emirates Stadium. 

The Brazilian playmaker took on Gunners' captain, Cesc Fabregas, attacking the Dutchman's reputation as a leader. 

“We are lacking leadership and we need leadership to go forward. There isn’t a leader. I don’t see one player as a leader.

“At Arsenal it’s more of a collective team at the moment, everyone is talking – but a leader is always important for a team.

“Fabregas is the captain but he is not a leader. It’s a personality thing and a leader can be young. It’s something they are born with.” 

Given the Gunners' place near the top of the table, sitting two points out of first, this probably couldn't have come at a worse time. 

Denilson has come under fire for his effort level in the past, and this isn't the way to endear himself to the Gunner faithful. 

The Saudi national soccer team have fired their coach, Nassir al-Johar, after the team failed to advance out of the second round of the Asian Cup tournament. 

Al-Johar was on his fifth tour of duty with the Saudi national team, having joined the team after their first round loss to Syria. 

The Saudi press agency says that al-Johar will be replaced by a high-profile international coach, but given the quick turnaround in the team (two coaches in less than a month) will anyone really be foolish enough to take the job? 

Mexican police say they have made an arrest in the near-fatal shooting of Parguayan forward Salvador Cabanas, according to multiple media reports. 

Cabanas was shot in the head at close range in a Mexico nightclub last January, but somehow not only managed to survive the shot, but was also nearly able to play for Paraguay in last summer's World Cup finals. 

Police say that Jose Jorge Balderas entered a bathroom at the nightclub and shot Cabanas in the head, following a disagreement regarding his play for the local club. 

Balderas reportedly has ties to the drug trade, so no names or faces of the police force who arrested him were released. 

Former Portugal head coach Carlos Quieroz had his lifetime ban's appeal begin this week, as the coach testified to the Court of Arbitration For Sport regarding his expulsion. 

Quieroz was banned for allegedly disrupting drug testing proceedings prior to his team's play in last year's World Cup. The Portuguese Football Federation suspended Quieroz from working in the country for six months, then fired him during the suspension. 

It is alleged that the coach berated a surprise tester who arrived at the team's facility prior to leaving for South Africa, and that in doing so, he disrupted the drug testing procedures. 

Portugal then promptly failed to find much success in the Cup, losing in the second round to Spain. 

The Court of Arbitration for Sport tossed out the appeal of Ukranian official Oleh Orekhov's lifetime ban earlier this week for his part in allegedly tampering with match results. 

Orekhov was banned for allegedly fixing matches on several occasions, although the court would not discuss which matches were tampered with. 

UEFA banned Orekhov in March, and he was named as part of a German court case involving match fixing in a Europa League contest between FC Basel and CSKA Sofia for a crime syndicate's betting group. 

Former FIFA representatives Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii have appealed their bans from the game following allegations of bribery involving the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process. 

Temarii, a Tahitian football leader, was caught asking for $2.4 million for a football academy in Auckland in return for his vote, while Adamu was asking for $800,000 to fund pitches in Nigeria. 

Both were banned from the Dec. 2 vote in Zurich on the 2018 and 2022 hosts after a FIFA ethics committee investigation into the alleged wrongdoings. Adamu also received a three-year ban for corruption.

However, Temarii claims to have a letter from FIFA proving he is free of corruption allegations, while Adamu needs to be freed of charges in order to run for an African executive committee position. 

Even if he is cleared, I'd say Adamu's odds aren't great. 

Dundee striker David Goodwillie has been charged with rape, according to a report from Who Ate All the Pies. 

The 21-year-old Scot was brought in after police received a complaint from a 24-year old woman, and teammate David Robinson was questioned as a potential witness. 

Despite the severity of the charges, it is difficult not to make a joke regarding Goodwillie's unfortunate last name, and the charges he's facing.