Don't try and stamp it out, diving is here to stay

I'm no fan of diving but I sincerely believe that people in Australia give the issue far too much attention to the point that overly physical and thuggish play is not punished. I was flabbergasted when I watched replay's of the Melbourne v Adelaide game at Aami stadium and you see Evan Berger run in from 10 metres away and kick the ball into Francisco Ussucar's head from 30cm away. Usucar is writhing around on the turf having suffered treatment not dissimilar to that of an extra in a Guy Ritchie movie and the comentators criticise Usucar for making a meal of it. To say I was disgusted would be an understatement and I think the comentators should be disciplined. And Perez's suspension for diving was a farce as repeated replays were inconclusive as to whether he dived. Yet he was convicted beacause it was suspected he dived. We're a society that is supposed to belive in due process and innocence until guilt is proven, yet this judgement was passed in defiance of these principals that form the bedrock of our society to appease the baying mob in their prejudices against diving. I truly believe that the dislike of diving in this country stems from a lack of understanding of the rules of football more than anything else.

Brilliant comment

I've never seen Lampard dive. The same goes for Owen. People kept saying he dived to win a penalty against Argentina, but there was contact.

Don't repeat - we laughed the first time.

Except for Gerrard. Or Rooney. Or Owen. Or Lampard. Actually, no - you're right. Those guys don't have any problem diving.

HaHaHa. If you watched Steven Gerrard fall down like a sack of potatoes last night when he was faced with two Debrecin defenders close to the byline and had no real options you wouldn't be saying that.

I believe UEFA are using a referee behind the goal line in this years Europa league to try and help the main referee on decisions like diving in the box etc. I will be interested to see how it works.

By the way Art. Hitler built Germany's vast autobahn network allowing them to become Europe's financial Powerhouse - Obviously bad people can do good things... I meant from an administrative standpoint.

How apt that Eduardo score the winner this morning :) Davide - I know its is a serious issue but I found the following line a tad hyperbolic "the atmosphere around the continent and the world seemed to be shifting". I thought I was reading a not global warming story for a second then. :)

Freud - you should take more care chosing your sporting administrator role models. Samaranch was a member of the Spanish Fascist Gentlemen's Club. His appointment to the become head of the Spanish Sports Ministry and Spain's IOC member was hardly democratic. He was still a Francoist sycophant by the time he was made IOC Vice-President. This did not seem to bother the IOC. Now he might have made the IOC wealthy but with all major international sporting organisations, the whiff of corruption hangs heavier than a smelly piece of blue cheese. By the way, Freud, Mussolini also made the trains run on time. He also had many critics but he "did the job". Finally, I would say the compared to all the past UEFA presidents, Platini has been the most progressive and forthright. He might not be a fan of the way the debt-ridden EPL clubs are run but, who would not agree with him.

Everybody is wrong. Diving is not the problem. The problem is. Why do fouls require a greater burdern of proof inside the box then outside? Diving is the player-adapted solution the problem. Everyone bemoans the lack of high scoring games in football, but no one addresses the defensive 'tactics' of commiting fouls on the player that the referee refuses to call up because they are 'not hard enough for a penalty' a foul is a foul is a foul. Until this aspect is corrected then Diving should remain, it is the only option an attacking player has left to call attention to the imbalance in decision making endemic in football.

It's probably allready too entrenched in Europe but I am glad that it's being treated as aconcern in Australia. Some people are more accepting of it than others but it won't fly with the public in Australia. It's pretty rare here and Iw ouldn't be surprised if there is no one they bother sanctioning with their new powers but the fact they can is a huge plus for the leagues credibility.

I feel the same way about diving as I do about "walking" in cricket. Leave it up to the on-field official. I agree, players shouldn't deceive the referee, but in the heat of competition, people get desperate. A match review committee just opens up a Pandora's Box. Train referees and linesmans to spot dives, and make sure they know to take action (a yellow card) for anyone they suspect of diving.

There should be two refs running the line on both sides of the ground Two more sets of eyes for shirtpulling and possible penalty decisions. Yes ,there needs be a system for judging offside calls,which ref calls , but that is not the focus of this suggestion. Surely it would help the ref make a correct decision if he had more help from the sideline.Given the importance of decisions in the penalty area,including close contentious calls about wether or not the ball crossed the goal line, at the highest level of the game, a seperate 'penalty box' referee could also be used .

The red mist seems to be obscuring your vision. Platini and Taylor were the ones who sought to get Eduardo banned. It was the appeals committee who overturned it. Your ire is directed at the wrong person. Platini has his faults, but he clearly has the interests of football at heart, which is more than can be said for the likes of Richard Scudamore.

Make diving a red card offence, because it is a yellow card offence at the minute the player can take the punt and take his chance. Uefa and FFA can't suspense someone for a yellow card offence, it's in the laws of the game, diving equals yellow a card. Change it to red and the players will think twice before making the decision to dive.

It's obvious that UEFA is not a democracy, elected by the people. They answer to no-one and act like it's one big gentleman's club. If it were not, Platini would be genuinely shaking in his boots after this farce but he has no need, he is there to push his own Agenda's in the hope they he be remembered in 20 years for having left a mark on the game while collecting a fortune in the process. At the end of the day, Platini and UEFA well and truly put their collective foot in it by having this ridiculous attitude. If Platini had spent more time dealing with the issues of the fans (eg. diving) rather than pushing issues that are dear to his beloved Frenchmen (eg. keeping youth players at their clubs by helping Blatter with his 6+5 rule) then we wouldn't be nearly as harsh, but those of us who care about the game are sick of seeing it consistently dragged through the mud by the egomaniacs on fat paypackets. Why on earth is Platini the head of an organisation like UEFA anyway? Juan Antonio Samaranch had nothing to do with sport other than to organise it and he was very successful over a very long period, sure he had his critics but he did the job. The EPL's Big 4 all have successful businessmen as their CEO's, people in administrative positions do not necessarily need to have played professional sport and I'd love to know what credentials Platini actually has (and I don't mean French Knighthoods), I'd imagine he just has a LOT of friends that he helped who in turn helped get him the job.

I think we ought to clarify how UEFA operates. The appeals committee is independent of the rest of UEFA. So one part of UEFA (almost certainly David Taylor) forced through the original decision and then another, independent part of UEFA overturned it. It's like the Supreme Court and the Senate in the US. I believe that the IRB and the FA have similar systems.

I agree that some sort of independent reviews panel is required, UEFA only changed their minds after being pressured by the clubs but there is plenty that can be done on the issue of diving. 1) Start awarding penalties without requiring the player to hit the deck. I can't remember the last time I saw a player receive a penalty while on standing on two feet, it simply doesn't happen as if they are still standing it seems referee's who generally avoid giving penalties don't feel there was enough reason to award one. Danny Welbeck's admirable effort, staying on his feet against Everton in the FA Cup Semi Final last year inevitably cost him a penalty. 2) I've mentioned this on The Roar before but it would probably be the most effective solution; Stop calling the 18 yard box the penalty box. 95% of dives are in the attacking box by players looking for penalties, by allowing referees to award free kicks inside the 18 yard box when a foul has occurred that wouldn't have directly affected a goal attempt (eg. the penalty awarded to Rooney against Arsenal) referees will be more likely to call it as they see it and players will stop looking for penalties on the by-line or by flying into the box ala C. Ronaldo. As it stands the inconsistencies are clear, what is deemed a yellow card offence anywhere else on the pitch often goes unpunished inside the box because the Referees are forced to call one way or the other, that's part of the reason yellow cards were introduced, sometimes a red card is too much but nothing is not enough, it's the same for fouls inside the box. 3) Coaching. there's no need to go into detail as I'm sure the problem isn't huge worldwide but I know of three clubs, one in Australia and two in Europe where junior players are taught to dive. These aren't huge clubs but they play at a semi-professional level. I was told by a friend whose younger brother was playing for one of these teams, when he asked why they teach it the response was to "help players avoid unnecessary injuries" - make up your own mind if you believe that, I for the record, don't.