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First, what is there to wonder about? Stakes. There are things to be gained from winning (and purposely losing).

Second, no one sport has more cheating than any other with similar stakes.

Third, "cheating" is more of a spectrum than binary. Travelling with the basketball is cheating and sometimes penalized. Having your husband kneecap your Olympic skating rival is cheating as well.

Fourth, "cheating" is relative and always in flux. You could head slap an NFL receiver in the 1970's, but no longer. Forward passes in the NHL were illegal in olden times, but fine today.