"Players who dive in English football could face bans from next season. The Football Association will vote on retrospective action at its annual general meeting on Thursday and is expected to approve the proposal. The governing body would need the backing of the Premier League, the English Football League and the Professional Footballers' Association to introduce the rule change. But it is understood they are broadly supportive and already in agreement. Under the proposed new rules, a panel would review footage from the weekend each Monday looking for cases of simulation. Any player unanimously found guilty of diving would be given a suspension." Good stuff.
Good stuff, agreed. Will be interesting to see the 'line' in terms of what does/doesn't constitute retrospective action.
It's a bit messy potentially isn't it, if it follows the same process as in Scotland, which has apparently been doing it since 2011 (news to me) then if a player is deemed to have dived by the team who watch the match footage and the ref didn't deal with it, they'll be able to either accept the ban or appeal it. I can imagine a lot of appeals because players will not like having to admit that they dived.
Agree totally - it could get very messy - it also wouldn't surprise me if a team considers a "dive" by one player in one game not a dive in a different game under the exact circumstanmces! Players are taught to dive - they call it "winning a foul" rather than cheating though!
I can imagine the appeals hearings being a farce, trying to analyse facial expressions and minute body movements to get to the truth. Even if it looks exactly like a dive who's to say they didn't just fall. Don't get me wrong I hope it happens I ****ing hate diving as part of the game. I suppose it's been up and running in Scotland for years now, does anyone actually watch Scottish football who would know how well it works?
I hate most rule changes to the game ,but this one if implemented shows how our great game has gone because of the so called CLEVER players acting to gain an advantage, its ruined many a match that good money has been paid to see,nothing but CHEATING, ****ers. Amen
Basically is was started by Man u players and I think they are taught it when they start in the academy but I don't know for sure. Cheating Manc bastards.
Agree that it is potentially messy, especially if a penalty ensues and that leads to the winning score, the result cannot be altered so in the long term it leads to a two match ban possibly with little impact on a big squad. Refs get a bad press for being badly positioned or for not seeing various digressions but look at the disallowed Arsenal goal last weekend, had the ref's view been obscured for a split second by a passing player then it could well have stood. He can only give what he sees in real time at ground level. If they must review the incident, especially penalty ones, then do it there and then and deduct any score from the cheating players team. Only way I can think of to have an instant impact to cut it out swiftly. What I would rather see is condemnation by players and pundits of the cheater but we all know that is not likely to happen. Part and parcel of the modern game I have learned to accept.
Will it be an analysis of every single act of potential simulation (I.e. Attempting to gain an advantage regardless of the position in the pitch) or will it be limited to say a player diving to get a penalty. Could be loads of potential incidents realistically.
The 'did he or didn't he' panel could be doing a twelve hour shift every Monday if this move doesn't discourage divers from day one of the new season.
I guess the hope is that with the threat of bans looming it'll put players off from doing it. It might make managers switch from holding professional acting classes for their players to telling them to never dive under any circumstance, especially if the panel is relatively hardline and dishes out plenty of bans. It's not like only the bad players dive, some of the world's finest are right buggers for it. Their managers won't want them missing games.
As much as I hate video evidence its needed for this to work. If someone cheats or is suspected of cheating the ref stops play or waits until the ball is out of play. Show it on the big screen and like in cricket where the decision is given to the umpire the decision is passed to the ref. This will hopefully embarrass the cheater and have an almost instant decision. At the mo a penalty could be given and a club possibly relegated. Going to extremes here but thats a lot of money to lose for a bloke who will then get a 2 game ban. A 2 game ban is a waste of time. A 6 month or season long ban without pay will cut this out or alternative amputate the b*stards legs.
A move in the right direction but apparently will only apply if the dive results in a penalty or an opposition payer being sent off for either a straight red or 2 yellows
Got no points on my licence so I shouldn't get banned as long as I don't get caught doing a ton! oh... DIVING... Be interesting to see how this works as I just can;t see bans being dished out correctly and it will likely open a big can of worms!
The mindset that encourages players to dive is one of "this is against the rules but if I get away with it I gain an advantage". Changing the punishment won't make a difference because getting away with it will still gain the player an advantage. Ambiguity will still exist even with the use of video evidence. Diving is a socio-cultural thing and the only way to eradicate is to change the core mindset of players worldwide.
"There have been 12 cases of retrospective action for diving in total in Scotland. 1 case was denied and dismissed 4 cases have been denied but proved at a hearing 7 cases were admitted" So players do admit it, slightly surprising to me. "When the ban came in there were the same objections in Scotland as we are hearing now south of the border. The ban doesn't make a complete difference because some players will still do it but it does now have a stigma attached to it. It hasn't eliminated diving, it never will, but it has reduced it." The view of Scottish commentator Roddy Forsyth.
I reckon the only way to eradicate it completely is to take points from the team if they gain any by doing it (i.e. if someone dives to win a penalty and they win 1-0 due to that then take 2 points from them and award a point to the losing team) - That'll never happen as the FA don't have the balls sadly! Is this just a "British" thing? Diving has been rife for years all over the world but it seems strange that a rule is brought in in one country but not in others
