Diving me Crazy

Last night when I was watching Mexico play against Paraguay, I found myself on a couple occasions yelling at the television set because players on both teams were diving to the turf after little or no contact. I had absolutely no rooting interest in the match, but I soon found myself rooting against the players that were flopping around like fish out of water. I’m not going to suggest that diving is a new phenomenon in football, but it is something that really takes away from my enjoyment of the game. I don’t think I am alone in this regard.

That is why I am pleased that there has been increased attention paid to cheating lately and more importantly that there are ideas being floated around that might actually help reduce the number of times you see a player fake penalties.

A proposal by England’s Football Association that would punish players after a potential dive is reviewed on video tape makes a lot of sense to me. If players know that they will face suspension or fines when they dive, and if the technology is in place to offer clear video evidence of the infraction, then this could go a long way towards reducing the incidents of diving.

Let’s face it. If you are a referee you have to make split second decisions and what looks like a penalty in real time often turns out to be a dive when viewed on a television replay. Why not use all available technology to clean up the sport?

I know my television sure could use a break from me yelling at it.

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