A Pink Card for Diving
A few days back I suggested that television reviews of instances where players dive might be a good way of reducing cheating in the sport. Another idea is now coming forward, proposed by former England captain Gary Lineker among others. The idea is to award players who dive with a pink card. Two pink cards in a match and the player would be ejected. In other words it would be the same thing as a yellow card, except it would be pink. Apparently the stigma of the color pink would be so humiliating and such an affront to a player’s masculinity that it would make players think twice before they resort to diving. Huh?
I’ve read a lot of dumb things and lord know I have written my share of idiotic ideas, but this one is almost in a class by itself. I can only imagine that after the Pink Card Solution doesn’t work – and it won’t - the next proposal will be to make all pink card recipients wear a dress and sing Britney Spears songs at halftime.
Instead of playing to stereotypes, how about simply enforcing the exisiting rules with the existing cards?
By the way, here is a nice rebuttal from our pal Bense in Dortmund who says that television replays should not be used to penalize divers.
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No way in hell there should be a reviewing on dives. Maybe on disputed “near-goals”. But not on “regular” diving. How often have we’ve seen concessional decisions? Refs not awarding the undisputed penalty but right after on the disputed? Often enough.
I can name dozens of situations in which the attacking player cleverly used the sliding tackle by the defender to “dive”. What’s that? Diving? No, defender stupidity. You don’t have to go down but the defender offers you the opportunity and you do so. Call me a lark, but I’m doing this as an attacker, too. If somebody is sliding into me and I know if he’d hit me on the ground, my shin bone crumbles. I take off so he can hit me in the air. I tip the ball away out of his reach and go airborne. There are a couple of decisions in each game where you don’t need to drop or dive but you do so to avoid injuries when you have stiffened your muscles and straightened bones while going for the ball. There are also some refs that reward free kicks on nothing much else than attackers playing away the ball, waiting for the impact. And you have calls, where it is to close to call - for real. The defender slides in, hits the attacker “ruthlessly” (as described in the rulebook) but at the same time hits the ball. “He played the ball” is a very stupid fucking excuse if you broke somebodies foot.
Acting and obivious diving should be penalised, but still, where’s the matter of a video evidence? That game already slowed down enough. That’s what we love about football. The though shit wrong decisions, too. Even as a German I’m saying that, being robbed in 66 by a swiss linesmann and a russian ref that decided on goal by the desperate look on the goalies face. There will always be discussions about whether a ball crossed the line or not - even after reviewing all the replays. I’m not rooting for guys and primadonnas like Totti or other divers. But be reminded, sometimes attackers go airborne to keep themselves from being injured.
My two cents
Bense
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Comments
By Euler | April 1st, 2006 at 1:12 pm 
TV should be used to penalise clear dives (those with clear intent to fool the refs) only after the game is over. The player should get a yellow card after the game to learn to play like a man.
Bense is right about keeping your legs in one piece, saving the strikers from ruthless defenders, but those ridiculous acting by the ill-intended little boys should be penalised.
Remember 2002 Rivaldo’s Oscar winning performance? If I was the supreme ruler of that championship, he should spend at least one game off. Maybe he could go home.
Maybe he could recieve a yellow card before the next game starts, after long considerations and debate among the refs with TV’s aid and careful examinations.
To let these jerks unpunished keeps fair play far from the objectives and values of our beloved beautiful game.
By Bense | April 1st, 2006 at 3:23 pm You mean Rivaldos career ender?
That was not diving, that was f***king acting. World Class. As if the ball was shot right thru his upper left leg. That’s so unbelievable dark red it should be purple almost.
Nah, I was talking about the out-of-the-play situation. But that discussion ain’t about penalising “acting” but reviewing plays. Football ain’t like American Handball NFL…
Posted from 
United States
By Arno | April 1st, 2006 at 8:08 pm April the 1st Joke, must be! 
Posted from 
Netherlands
By El Classico - FIFA World Cup 2006 - Iran World Cup Team Blog | April 1st, 2006 at 8:16 pm [...] Penalty for Barca Carlos Alberto Ronaldo’s Pink Card! [...]
Posted from United States
By Chris | April 2nd, 2006 at 9:08 am This whole thing about diving blew up because of the antics of the some Chelsea players recently, chief among them Drogba.
In a game against Newcastle a couple of weeks back he went two yards past a Newcastle player, didn’t get touched, dived in the air and flapped around like a salmon swimming up stream against a raging river, completely ridiculous.
Maybe in Germany they’d call him a lark, in England he’s called a fucking cheat. All the FA have to do is look at the film the next day and say there you go Drogba, a two game ban. See if he does it again.
By (Only) Six Ways to Improve World Cup - FIFA World Cup 2006 - Brazil World Cup Team Blog | April 12th, 2006 at 8:57 am [...] #3: A new form of punishing actors that value drama more than football, diving for no reason, pretending to have been shot on the face instead of receiving a ball in the knees, jumping like a ballerina doing funny faces, you know what I mean, right? Bob said something about a pink card that would work like the yellow one. Why not use a handball rule on this? Send the player off for 5 minutes! It’s an immediate action that would not only embarrass the player but harm his whole team. I’m sure nobody would want to play this shameful role. We can be creative on the color of this card, pink, blue, red with yellow dots, or it could even have Rivaldo’s picture there. In case the referees don’t see the theater at the time, the player should receive the punishment at the next game, after examination of TV images. [...]
Posted from United States
By Eric | June 28th, 2006 at 9:05 pm I think they should require any player who is on the ground for over 5 seconds to sub out for a pre-determined length of time (5 minutes perhaps).
Posted from United States
By martium | June 29th, 2006 at 12:57 am Every officiated sport in the world is susceptible to faking, but it’s the attitude of the fans and the administration that allows it to continue.
A known flopper wouldn’t last ten minutes in the AFL (Australian Football League).
In football, entire countries (like Italy) accept it as a playing tactic. Whatever it takes.
It’s shameful, really, that fans applaud it.
To the Italian player Grossi - if you’re not good enough to get past an opponent, cop it on the chin and try harder next time, you soft prick.
Posted from 
Australia
By Pregnant Without Intercourse » A modest proposal | July 5th, 2006 at 5:47 pm [...] The diving thing has been discussed all over the place by many other people who have pointed out ideas for the solving the problem. [...]
Posted from United States
By divenemy | July 16th, 2006 at 6:33 pm Agree with Martium. When fans accept this, or even worse defend it http://www.slate.com/id/2144625 it becomes all the more difficult to stamp it out. These people are a disgrace to all that’s fair. They are not sportsmen in any sense of the word. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=sportsmanship “# Conduct and attitude considered as befitting participants in sports, especially fair play, courtesy, striving spirit, and grace in losing.”
Posted from 
Germany
By Miramar | July 24th, 2006 at 6:33 pm I liked the idea about the pink card for a bad dive. I would take it one step further. Bring out a group of ballerinas, and shower the bugger with flowers after the pink card is awarded. It wouldn’t take long. As slow as most soccer matches are, you could do it at the point of the infraction and the game could move along as it usually does like some slow river making its way to a far away ocean. No one is held up and the crowd in the stands could resume its fights with the opposing team’s fans.
Posted from United States
By Go Far Post | October 2nd, 2006 at 2:07 am Our company, Go Far Post, sells pink cards (since December 2005). The pink card is identical to the referee’s yellow and red cards with the notable exception that it is bright fluorescent pink. We believe that if diving is to be eradicated from the game of football, the supporters in the stands will have to be the ones to lead the way. The pink card is for them. Imagine hundreds, or even thousands, of supporters displaying pink cards and loudly chanting a guilty footballer’s name following an obvious dive. That would send a powerful and humiliating message to that footballer that that sort of behavior on the pitch will no longer be tolerated. The potential for a “Pink Card of the Day” segment on the evening football highlights would be entertaining as well.
Posted from United States
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