Internet changed everything. Media exposure now is huge. 8 years makes a immense difference. And I remember people in uproar against zidane. He was hated here in brazil and maybe it was the reason, but if that final happened in this years' wc, you'd see him getting a similar treatment to what Suarez is getting now.
And if you look back in the past of football, violence was much more spread, as the players weren't under such camera lenses all the time. Suarez bites wouldn't make headlines, as it'd be difficult to spot. Looking at the past is not the right way to measure things. You have to see the context of the present. So many things we consider bad now were tolerated in the past...
Same with politicians and their bad things.
At least here, internet and smartphone changed a lot of things.
Many things went under the radar in the past while now, a lot of the bad things they do make headline.
Hollande learned it when he tried to have a lovelife like Mitterrand. The later could hide easily that he was having orgies, but Hollande got spotted and it was everywhere.
That won't make the politicians 100% clean, but it's good that now they feel threatened and watched.
I think sportsmen (most of them) think the same. They are way more watched and criticized than in the past.
Some don't care tho, suarez for example, sadly.