Why new supporters are turned off by diving

Columnist

By Mike Tuckerman, 30 Aug 2010 Mike Tuckerman is a Roar Expert

Tagged:: A-League, Central Coast Mariners, diving, football, Kurt Ams, Matthew Breeze, melbourne heart, Patricio Perez, Perth Glory

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“Trying to win a penalty is the new Route 1” wrote FourFourTwo’s online editor Kevin Airs on Twitter, and the always humourous Airs was right on the money. When two matches out of five are defined by dodgy spot-kicks, the anti-football elements among the mainstream media score a free-kick to boot.

The dive from Central Coast Mariners midfielder Patricio Perez looked to be the flop of the weekend until Perth Glory striker Michael Baird pulled off an outrageous piece of simulation to rob Melbourne Heart of their maiden A-League victory.

In the opening instance Matthew Breeze was officiating in his 100th A-League match, while rookie referee Kurt Ams was taking charge of just his first, and the fact that both men in black missed the acts of simulation is testament to just how hard it is to spot the fakers.

However, the Fox Sports cameras certainly spotted them, and if Football Federation Australia wanted to send a strong message that diving will not be tolerated, they’d throw the book at both Perez and Baird for acts of con artistry which changed the complexion of two matches.

That’s unlikely to happen though, which is a shame because it’s impossible not to talk about diving in the wider context of the Australian sporting landscape.

Forget about the capped crowd of 3,624 fans who turned out to watch the farcical Gold Coast United in action, how about the fact only 10,000-odd fans turned out to watch a local derby between defending champions Sydney FC and Central Coast Mariners?

It’s all well and good to say the A-League doesn’t need to appeal to the wider sports community given the number of football fans in this country, but we’re struggling to attract even those fans through the gate.

And when potential new supporters are turned off by an element of the game they find particularly unpalatable – and there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence around to suggest that’s the case – then it’s incumbent upon the game itself to stamp that element out.

It’s such a shame so much focus from another pulsating round of action will be fixed squarely on the issue of diving, because there’s no doubt the standard of football we’re currently seeing in the A-League is the highest yet.

Argentine import Marcos Flores registered an early contender for goal of the season for Adelaide United, while Kosta Barbarouses, David Williams and Robbie Kruse all scored goals of real quality to thrill fans inside the grounds and watching on TV.

But the feel-good factor disappears seeing Michael Baird flop to the ground like a fish out of water, so it’s no wonder Kevin Airs likens it to the eyesore that is Route 1 football.

“Players are playing for (penalties) instead of trying to score” writes Airs, and video footage of Baird’s outrageous dive confirms that’s precisely what he’s done.

His act of cheating not only cost Melbourne Heart two points, it likewise provided ammunition to every Peter Fitzsimons and Rebecca Wilson out there just itching to stick the boot into a league they can otherwise barely bring themselves to acknowledge.

I’ve seen plenty of diving in other codes as well, but that’s not to say we should turn a blind eye to acts of simulation taking place in our own backyard.

Patricio Perez and Michael Baird might be new signings for their respective clubs, but they’ve done little to thrust the A-League into the spotlight for the right reasons.

They say winning isn’t everything, but a draw isn’t particularly enjoyable either when it’s achieved by means of play acting, and no doubt there were some folks who walked away from the latest round of action questioning their commitment to the A-League.

Follow Mike on twitter @Mike_Tuckerman

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The Crowd Says (159) | Page 1 of Comments

Mister Football said | August 30th 2010 @ 7:44am | Report comment

What Kevin Airs mentions is not a new phenomenon – it’s just that increased professionalism in Australia will naturally mean that we will catch up to the rest of the World in this regard.

You need to go back over five decades to understand where the game is today.

In the 1950s, goal averages per match were around the 5.5 per match level, and about 80% of goals were scored from open play.

As defensive structures and tactics improved from the 1960s onwards, goal averages fell, till we reached the current 2.3 goals per match (a figure that is exaggerated by the odd blow out).

The inevitable result is that many teams have an over-reliance on scoring goals from set pieces, including trying to earn penalties – and about half of all goals of that meagre average are by way of set pieces.

I wouldn’t worry too much about what the mainstream media has to say about it.

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- Rob said | August 30th 2010 @ 11:55am | Report comment
  
  When I first kicked a ball in the early 70s we still lined up as 2-3-5
  About as far removed from todays 4-3-2-1 as you can get.
  
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mice said | August 30th 2010 @ 8:17am | Report comment

The last two games I have seen at AMMI Park, Melbourne Victory v NQF and Melbourne Heart v Perth, have been decided on penalties. There have been five penalties in these two games. The equivalent of a penalty shoot out. Probably only two penalties were justified, I don’t like to to see games decided in this manner, especially when players are trying to con the referee. In the case of the Baird decision it was almost the last kick of the game and reminded me of the Australia v Italy World Cup game in which the referees decision virtually decided the result of the game.
Another gripe I have with the refereeing is consistency. A Melbourne Heart player rightly got booked for time wasting toward the end of the game. But in the Melbourne Victory v NQF game last week Nth Queensland got away with so much blatant time wasting it was not only frustrating to watch but bewildering as to why the referee took no action.

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- Axel V said | August 30th 2010 @ 11:22am | Report comment
  
  Penalties are in place for a reason, it’s to penalise the defenders for cheating. Every penalty at AAMI park was been fair until Bairds dive. Melbourne Victory had 5 penalty appeals against NQF, all 5 of them were legitimate, Kruse and Mate even got booked for diving on what were real fouls against them in the box. It’s hard for the ref to give penalties.
  
  The penalty given to Heart last night was a penalty in real football, although in A-League it is rare for something like that to be given. Illegal contact was definitely made, and Heart got a penalty. What happened in Perez or Baird’s case however, there was 0 contact, maybe it was a gust of wind that caught them? either way i didn’t see the defenders being blown over. Dirty cheats.
  
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macavity said | August 30th 2010 @ 8:39am | Report comment

anti-football media?

do you mean Fitzsimmons (RU) and Wilson (AFL)?

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- Redb said | August 30th 2010 @ 11:14am | Report comment
  
  Wilson is not AFL, she is rugby league and ‘partnered’ to News Ltd.
  
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  - JamesP said | August 30th 2010 @ 12:01pm | Report comment
    
    Unless he was referring to Caro…but she is nowhere in the class of Rebecca Wilson
    
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  - macavity said | August 30th 2010 @ 12:22pm | Report comment
    
    Bourbon Beccy is an AFL fanatic who constantly bags RL (and soccer also it would seem).
    
    just because you don’t want it to be so, does not make it untrue.
    
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    - Redb said | August 30th 2010 @ 12:49pm | Report comment
      
      you don’t hear her on Melb radio.
      
      Reply
Fauntleroy said | August 30th 2010 @ 8:51am | Report comment

Not sure I agree with this. There’s no doubt simulation doesn’t help matters, but in my experience diving is and always has been a convenient outlet which enables people, already predisposed to disliking football, to neatly articulate why they don’t like a game they already didn’t like. Its just an easy thing to grab on to. The real reasons for this dislike are usually more diverse and far reaching.

It is highly unlikely that people are thinking “oh I like 99% of the game, but this diving stuff is a deal breaker.” Football is more popular globally than it was 20 years ago, when diving was much less prevalent.

You’re focusing on something which you fear will be detrimental to Australian football. And you’re right. But the FFA has a fantastic opportunity to counter-balance this with decisive action. In fact, if they act with strong punishment for the offenders, and instill a sense of crime-and-punishment, I predict the net result will be overwhelmingly positive.

Being the FFA, they will mostly likely ignore it. They operate under the belief that if the public don’t see a punishment, then the public will believe there was never a crime. This is straight out of the FIFA handbook. But we shall see.

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Farqwar said | August 30th 2010 @ 8:55am | Report comment

Whilst I despise diving as much as the next person, the quality of the football is of greater concern for me as a Sydney fan.

Watching 11 players who are supposed to be proffesional footballers struggle to perform the basics let alone play a high tempo, creative, attacking game of football is a real concern. The dive was one of the rare moments in the game that the fans had something to shout about, and it was a relief to be able to channel our frustration.

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Machine said | August 30th 2010 @ 9:10am | Report comment

The syd fc vs ccm game screams Sunday arvo 3pm yet it was played on a sat night.. Go figure!
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Art Sapphire said | August 30th 2010 @ 9:18am | Report comment

What Kurt Ams incredulously missed was one of the most blatant dives ever seen in the A-League.

His error in the last minute changed the result of the game and robbed Melbourne Heart of it’s first win in the competition.

The A-League will have to ban Baird for at least 2 games for bringing the game into disrepute and send Kurt Ams to the optometrist as he was the only person in the stadium who did not see the dive.

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mahony said | August 30th 2010 @ 9:32am | Report comment

Just grab them on the replay – transfer/recind any red cards and fine clubs……. that should stop it in about a month by my calculations (NB: I made no actual calculations)……

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- Victer said | August 30th 2010 @ 10:39am | Report comment
  
  The penalties have to be harsh for blatant dives. However that won’t give Heart their points back
  
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Ben of Phnom Penh said | August 30th 2010 @ 10:37am | Report comment

Perez is difficult as the replay’s don’t show what’s happening with his left foot, whether he’s exaggerating contact or if he’s having a plunge. It looks at the world like the latter however unless there is definitive proof, such as a camera angle we are not aware of, the FFA will be unable to sanction the player retrospectively.

Baird’s tumble, on the other hand, has a much clearer camera angle.

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Kirk Johnson said | August 30th 2010 @ 10:56am | Report comment

ffs. Don’t go to Lucas Neill’s school of tackling in the penalty area.

Next week’s article – The Scourge of Manhandling in the Box: Players pulled back/impeded but no penalty given because they don’t fall over.

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- Aka said | August 30th 2010 @ 11:17am | Report comment
  
  Yep. How about free kicks get paid in the box for offences where they would be paid anywhere else on the ground.
  
  Defenders will go to ground all too easily under pressure from attackers. And receive free kicks 99% of the time.
  
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