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Rules need changing following diving era

Is there anything worse than diving in football? AP Photo/Jon Super
Roar Rookie
24th February, 2015
27

Diving, or as the football world prefers to call it, simulation, is a growing concern in the football world.

It has grown to ridiculous levels and Sebastian Ryall’s latest episode has taken it to a whole new level after he was somehow cleared of diving.

Not only did he blatantly ‘trip over his own feet’ but he then had the audacity to go and pat Gui Finkler on the head and rub it in.

Why does FIFA not have harsher penalties in play for this? A red card is issued if a player denies an obvious goalscoring opportunity so why is a player not red carded if he is deemed to be trying to use simulation to create an obvious goalscoring opportunity.

And why do commentators and members of the football public avoid calling it diving at all costs? These players should be named and shamed and labelled as divers instead of being rewarded with penalty kicks.

This leads to my next point, why do we have to give a penalty kick, which is almost a certain goal, for unworthy fouls on the edge of the box. Why can’t we leave it up to the referee as to whether it was a very good goalscoring opportunity or not? There are already blatantly different rules when a player enters the penalty box and fouls that are given everywhere else on the field are thrown out the window.

So how can we change that? Simple, if a player has his back to the goal and is nudged on the back and flops to the ground, blow the whistle, call a foul but give the attacking team a free kick from wherever they would like to take it. If a player is brought down as he appears to be either creating or about to score an almost certain goal himself inside the box, award a penalty kick.

As it is now the game is turning into hockey more and more each week as players nearly ignore trying to score goals to play for penalties. In hockey, players enter the shooting circle and immediately try to hit a defender’s foot in order to receive a penalty corner. Football is mirroring this and it is getting out of hand quickly.

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So let’s leave it up to the referees to decide whether a foul warrants a penalty kick or not, they make plenty of other decisions so why deny them from making this choice.

Why let a box determine who wins a game?

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