Accountability in sports largely defines an athlete's value in the public eye. Athletes go through all sorts of PR training in order to stay gold in the public eye. Even scandals as large as cheating can be downplayed by a simple statement, that surprisingly goes a long way with viewers.
So why are there athletes who are exceptions to this rule? Of course, I am going to talk about Formula One. Max Verstappen is a largely dislikable driver. With an astringent attitude and a certain sense of self righteousness only a world champion could have, he still maintains an avid fan base, despite never commenting on his own mistakes. In complete contrast, let's talk about Lando Norris. Completely and utterly honest about his mistakes, to a point where it comes off as self deprecation. So why is Norris such a hated driver? He has fans yes, but repeatedly faces atrocious reactions from fans of the sport and hate online. I think this is an interesting phenomenon. People have a certain ability to look past their morals when judging athletes, it is like we use a different rubric when deciding who we like.
You see this across every sport. Tons of athletes have scandals, from minor accusations to felonies, and yet every single one of them still have major fan bases. Like a level of celebrity grants immunity to standards. I myself fall victim to this too. I like and dislike plenty of drivers for reasons past how they actually act or drive. In fact my favorite athletes are largely unimpressive skill wise, and I instead gravitate to them because of their stories. This just goes to show how influential athletes really are. Yes, sports are insanely entertaining, but that is not all they offer.