Sport's Strangest Crimes

On April 30, 1993, one moment of madness changed the course of tennis history, and confronted the world of sport with an uncomfortable reality - how safe were its biggest stars?
Teenage phenomenon, Monica Seles, had taken the tennis world by storm, and was one of the most famous female athletes on the planet. But on that fateful day in 1993, she became the victim of a public and violent crime - in front of thousands of onlookers, she was ambushed on court and stabbed in the back by a spectator.
Hear what happened from those who were there; how shock and disbelief gave way to questions. But first we must answer: who was Monica Seles?
Clare Balding charts the meteoric rise of the pocket rocket from Yugoslavia, whose raw power took her from the brutalist concrete car park courts of Serbia, to the sun-soaked state-of-the-art courts of Florida - ushering in a new era of women’s tennis.
Before long, the young pretender comes up against the queen of tennis - Steffi Graf - but does Seles really have what it takes to take down Germany’s golden girl? At Roland Garros in 1989, the world got its first glimpse of the rivalry that would become one of the most talked about in the sport - but not for the reason anyone expects.
Warning: This episode contains descriptions of violence.
Presented by Clare Balding
Written & Produced by Emma Roberts
Additional reporting by Russell Fuller
Mixed by Gareth Iles
Executive Producer: Joe Haddow
Assistant Commissioner: Rob Green
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton

Clare Balding tells the story of how a shocking act of violence altered sporting history, and how a visionary tennis champion fought to find her way back to the life she once had

Former referees and a FIFA insider: can the USA ‘94 conspiracy theory floated by the Iraqi Football Federation over 30 years ago finally be explained? James travels to Cologne to retrace the steps of England’s failed 1993 World Cup qualifying campaign under Graham Taylor. Could Taylor’s men really have been caught up in the same plot? If anyone will know it’s the men in black who held the whistles at the time and those working inside FIFA’s glass-walled offices who are now ready to talk.
Presented by James Montague
Written by Ben Wyatt and Emma Weatherill
Production co-ordinator: Juliette Harvey
Production manager: Debbie Waddell
Development Executive: Emma Shaw
Executive Producers: Ben Wyatt, Emma Weatherill and Joe Kent
Sound Design and Composition: Melvin Rickarby
Assistant Commissioner: Rob Green
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Patronage and power: lessons from an Italian footballing scandal. From the pitch of the San Siro to a pre-dawn FBI raid of a luxury hotel in Geneva, James gathers a new understanding of the mechanics of football-match manipulation, in a way that makes him question a footballing scar from the past that has remained close to his own heart.
Presented by James Montague
Written by Ben Wyatt and Emma Weatherill
Production co-ordinator: Juliette Harvey
Production manager: Debbie Waddell
Development Executive: Emma Shaw
Executive Producers: Ben Wyatt, Emma Weatherill and Joe Kent
Sound Design and Composition: Melvin Rickarby
Assistant Commissioner: Rob Green
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

As the FIFA draw takes place in Washington DC and the great and the good of the footballing world convene in the US capital, spies come out of the woodwork to speak to James. Former CIA operatives and military intelligence aficionados spill their beans, but could the ex-CEO of USA ‘94 have the most intriguing lead?
Presented by James Montague
Written by Ben Wyatt and Emma Weatherill
Production co-ordinator: Juliette Harvey
Production manager: Debbie Waddell
Development Executive: Emma Shaw
Executive Producers: Ben Wyatt, Emma Weatherill and Joe Kent
Sound Design and Composition: Melvin Rickarby
Assistant Commissioner: Rob Green
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.