People are more likely to lie or cheat if others are lying or cheating, or if a member of another social group (such as a student wearing a sweatshirt from a rival university) visibly flouts the rules.
After "lie-gate", when McLaren's world champion Lewis Hamilton was found guilty of lying to race stewards at the first race of the season in Australia, the sport hardly needed another controversy.
And while the Manchester based Red Devils currently lie at the head of the Premier League, their Sussex-based namesakes are doing equally well, lying just three points off top-spot in the Blue Square Bet Premier with four games in hand on leaders AFC Wimbledon.