Diving, which is also known as simulation or play acting, was more prevalent at this World Cup than any previous. And it's not just North Americans raised on 'manly' sports like pointy ball and ice hockey who think play acting is garbage. The head of the 2006 World Cup organizing committee, German legend Franz Beckenbauer, has called for a summit on how to deal with this plague.
dirtycheatingportugal (TM) was the team most infamous for its players' penchant for collapsing as though shot merely because a fan in the upper deck sneezed. Despite their ability to play attractively when they actually put their minds to soccer instead of flopping, Portugal became most neutral fans' most hated team because of their unsporting behavior. Their tendency to whine like snivelling little children whenever their cheating was not rewarded by the ref only added to most fans' loathing of the Iberians. I'm sure I wasn't the only person happy to see them eliminated in the semifinal and thrashed in the third-place match.
But it would be wrong to see this as a purely Portugese disease, even if they were the worst practioners. Sadly, most teams that did anything had a few players with a tendency to flop, with the notable exception of the English and the Germans.
For many casual fans, the diving plague cast aspersions on the integrity of the whole sport. To casual fans, they asked how can you like a game where it seems like everyone cheats? To the rabid fan, it ruined their dream of the Beautiful Game winning out.
This disillusionment has many fans asking what can be done to clean up the sport of this crap. The answer is a bit less direct than you think.
Unlike most fans, I refuse to separate diving from obstruction and shirt pulling.
Obstruction and shirt pulling are also forms of cheating that ruin the game. But they are rarely, if ever called. Furthermore, when a player cheats by play acting, fans want him tarred and feathered. But when a player cheats by shirt pulling, fans excuse it as 'savvy' or 'sophisticated' play. This double standard is deplorable.
Diving and obstruction/shirt pulling are not separate crimes against soccer. They are two sides of the same coin. Defenders obstruct the attacking player or grab a chunk of his jersey. Many creative players have had their careers cut short because they've literally been kicked out of the game by players fouling them with impunity. Former Dutch legend (and current Dutch coach) Marco Van Basten is one example of someone who retired because of repeated injuries. I fear that Italy's Francesco Totti will soon be another.
These defensive players and goons masquerading as such get away with it. So the attacking player rationalizes, "The defender is getting an advantage by breaking the rules. If I dive, I'm not cheating; I'm just evening things up."
I don't condone diving. But you can't condemn one form of cheating and refuse to acknowledge any other. Too many fans do.
Referees need to crack down on diving. But they simultaneously need to crack down on obstruction and shirt pulling. And they need to give yellow cards for hard fouls, not for pedantic nonsense like they did this World Cup.
Most of the time, the only way to get the ref to blow the whistle when a real foul is committed is to fall to the ground. If a player doesn't fall down, then the legitimate foul will not be called and the attacking player is punished for staying on his feet in a sporting manner.
That's the dirty little secret that no one talks about but it's central to addressing the problem.
Of all the fouls that result in the award of a penalty kick, what percentage are awarded to players who are fouled but stay on their feet? I venture to say the number is something like 0.01 percent. In 12 years of playing and watching dozens of matches every month, I bet I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen this happen and have fingers left over.
When sporting behavior is punished and unsporting behavior is rewarded, can you really blame players for choosing the latter?
Punishing divers is an important change that needs to happen. In such cases, I'd like to see the foul or penalty awarded to the attacking team AND the attacking player's diver yellow carded. If a player is fouled and flops, two infractions have been committed; there's no need to choose only one or the other. Punish both.
Referees also need to do one other important thing: they must call fouls even in cases where the attacking player doesn't fall down.
This is far and away the best thing officials can do to discourage diving. Once attacking players realize they won't be punished for staying on their feet, that's exactly what they'll try to do. And defenders will learn that their cheating will not be rewarded.
Diving in soccer must be dealt with. But it can only be dealt with if it's seen for what it is: a response to a larger pattern of cheating.
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