How could diving be eliminated from football for good?

Question

I'm out at the FIFA World Cup reporting daily for Yahoo!. Check my blog at http://www.yahoo.co.uk/lee-sharpe .

Answer 1

Diving, and other forms of cheating exist because players know they can get away with it with realtive impunity.

If the sanction was such that they knew they, or their team couldn't afford it then it would stop

So a retrospective analysis, after the game has finished look at video evidence
That analysis triggered either by the team the victim of the incident and/or outside parties

The sanctions
- say deduct 3 points (or more if a persistent offender)
- the deduction of up to the value of the game (ie 1/38th of the clubs revenue). (including clothing, sponsorship, corporate, tv coverages, video saels, web revenue etc...)
- banning that team from being onTV for the next 2..3 scheduled matches (irrespective if they are domestic, european or cup matches)
-instant red card ban the palyer for say 3 games

Answer 2

Change it from a yellow to an immediate red, and a fine to the player, coach, team, and federation.

The diving the Italian's have been doing is terrible. I can not watch their games anymore. The worst was the final one against Austrailia.

More control needs to be given to the officials also. In the case of Portugal Netherlands neither team was playing up to the code of ethics. The ref should have the ability to call a time out. Haul the coaches and captains on the field and say "For the good of the game stop this crap or I will start handing out red cards till the only people left on the field are the keepers" Under the circumstances I think he did a tremendous job.

So far those two games are the only two turn offs for me (other than England's boring play). Otherwise the contests have been very good and have brought a lot of new interest to the game here in Canada.

You have to remember if you are still interested in growing the game around the world new fans will not put up with the nonsense. It just turns them off.

So far this world cup for me has a B+ would have been an A- if there were Korean drums banging away in the quarters.

Edit.... You can also go to a two referee system similar to hockey. If the ref is infront of the play rather than trailing there is a better opportunity of catching diving and other calls and getting them right. What just happened with France and Spain would have been caught with a second official. That was a terrible dive.

Answer 3

Several years ago, Rugby Union was having trouble keeping up with the pace of the game. The grounding of the ball, players possibly "in touch", and the free-for-all bundle with the ball at the bottom of a pile was making life difficult for referees to determine whether or not a try had been scored. Very important in Rubgy.
Their answer (as with Cricket and "run outs") was to allow the refs to take a time-out and have a fourth official take a closer look at the video evidence.

For crucial decisions that can turn any game at the top level (where the really big money or trophies are) i see no reason why a referee couldn't blow his whistle and indicate a "time-out" or "video review". Any time spent doing this could be added at the end of the 45 minute period (which is already in place for other stoppages), and it would be no different than any of the other hundreds of stoppages that happen naturally in the game anyway. I certainly don't see that it would harm the flow of the game any more than somebody dribbling the ball to the corner flag to waste time.
For internationals and top-flight football this could enable the ref to make a much more informed decision regarding the award of free-kicks, penalties and whether or not a player should be punished, especially if his view is not 100% clear.

I also believe that FIFA and the domestic governing bodies should thoroughly review tapes of played games. It would be rediculous to reverse results after the fact, but offending players, and the clubs they play for, should face hefty financial and point-deduction penalties if it is found that they have sought to bluff the referee. This is surely a severe case of bringing the game into disrepute (all those youngsters watching their heros taking dives and faking injury to influence the officials) and should be driven out of the game at all costs.

Odd that one of the worst culprits for diving is now coaching the German national side. I still remember him getting the Argentinian sent off in the World Cup Final that Germany went on to win. Is this really the message we want to send to future generations of football players?

Answer 4

The Diving situation is disgusting. Itlay falls were so well executed I firmly believe that they joined the Chinese circus for a few months. Anyway, there are a few options available but here is what I believe to be the best solutions.

Off-sides should stay the same.
All tackles should be analysed post match and suspensions issued if found guilty. Most importantly, As in Rugby League in Australia, If the decisions is vital I.e. In the Penalty box, the Referee should have the TV Ref option to make a ruling.
Therefore all tackles outside the box are up to the Ref to make on the spot in order to keep the momentum up, however, any penalties (including potential handballs) in the Box should go straight to the TV Ref. Australia would be through to the final 8 without a doubt.

Also, with this option available, if the ref chooses to rule-out using the video ref, he too can come under scrutiny from FIFA. There are so many horrible refereeing decisions that they too should be more thoroughly scrutinised.........better pay.....more prof........more responsibility. All works well together.
It's all too clear that the World Cup is like the Eurovision Song contest. The Referees must have a pact which states, ''if you help my team with this game, I'll help your team when they play''.
Unless they have illegal wagers on the game, there is no other explanation for such terrible blunders.

Enjoy the rest of the tournament.

Answer 5

This kind of problem is non-trivial.
As with most things it is a matter of education coupled with various levels of enforcement.

If the match is big enough that it is being recorded then you can have playback to check a particular decision. However, this does not seem to be popular as it has not already happened; Breaks the flow of the game..., these decisions even out anyway... - etc
So what could be done is to view the evidence afterwards and apply suitable deterrents (name and shame to missing matches).
The above is fairly easy to do if there is will.

Where there is no recording it is very difficult to prove one way or the other and the referees(with help from other officials) really is the ultimate arbitrator.

Also, if the deed is not seen to be done by young up and coming footballers, as in a recorded match, or if it is punishment is handed out. Then they will not do the deed themselves.

At the lower levels this kind of behaviour hardly ever occurs. The players are usually full of the joys of the beautiful game.
When big business is involved money rules the roost and the end, winning, justifies the means.
Does this mean that teams are successful if they employ this tactic well not really, maybe it just seems that way.
If you could eliminate these kind of tactics the game could only improve, on and off the pitch.
The grass roots has the will why not the governing bodies.

Answer 6

I think a good step towards a solution would be to provide retrospective refereeing and club level fines using TV coverage and a panel of referees to decide on contentious issues such as diving for instance. Red and yellow cards could then be issued before the next game and eventually players would realise that if they do dive they won't get away with it. this will also allow for the removal of red and yellow cards for the tackler should there have been a dive.

I think when it comes to sending off offenses the replays should be used instantly and refereeing decisions made by the fourth official with the managers looking on from the dugout. I mean, when something like that happens there is a delay anyway and we see what's happened on the TV as the player is sent off the park. The player could still head for the touchline, but could end up with the decision reversed, him allowed back on and the diver sent off or carded.

I suppose the only drawback is that not all matches are covered with some form of video technology, so it may be worth testing this in the top flight (where it seems more prevelant) and any fines colledted from clubs taking part should be used to put the technology into grounds around the country for those that can't afford it.

I think this is a good start.

Answer 7

In the Premiership the following system could be introduced: At presnt we have different sanctions for red cards depending on the circumstances: trip a player up as he goes clean through on goal and it's a one match ban. Headbutt someone and unless your name is Figo it's three. The same should happen with yellows, with harsher sanctions against divers. A yellow for diving will be much worse than a yellow for a foul. Not only should a player get a yellow for diving, but a second yellow carries an automatic one match ban, as does every subsequent yellow. There would be no amnesty during the season: in the most extreme case a player booked for diving in the first game and the last would be sat in the stands for the opening league game of the following season. A video panel will be allowed to review matches and retrospectively give yellow cards as well, while exonerating people wrongly booked. If the video panel finds a player had dived twice, or dived after he has a yellow card, a three match ban for a red card will follow.

In a World Cup there would similarly be no amnesty after the group stage for an offence of this kind. In the knock-out stages the sanction should be two matches.

Do this and diving will stop overnight.

Answer 8

The only way is for cameras to be placed inside the box. Anyone diving should then be shown on the big screen that we see at football matches nowadays and immediately red carded from the game. This would then set an example and thus teams would not dive knowing that they would lose a man. Also it is the job of the referees to be a lot tougher. They are too weak and favour the top teams too much. As was shown in the Italy from Australia game where the italian player clearly dived and won a penalty, totally unjust way to win. He should have been shown a red card, but no instead a penalty was given! All matches should have cameras placed on the field showing any fouls on the big screens, thus the referees could use this to make a decision.

Answer 9

With the amount of cameras and angles available at the top football matches it should be possible to have a FIFA or similar official check the replays of serious incidents either during or after the game to detect the players diving and ban them for about 6 months for the first occurrence, a year the second time and life on the 3rd occurrence. To see Henry go down clutching his face against Spain last night when the contact was no where near his face was very poor and a shame, and from such a good player too. Mind you Stephen Gerrard dived to win England a penalty in one of the warm up games as well. So two excellent players who come across really well are in fact cheats. It's a pity. I wondert why it doesn't happen in Rugby :-)

Answer 10

Simple rules:
PENALTY AREA
All penalty area diving decisions taken away from the referee.
-If a foul is committed in the penalty area, the play is stopped (normally stopped anyhow while the players throw hand bags at each other)
- A panel of judges determines the foul using replays.
- Decision is given. If the player has dived, feigned injury he gets a straight red card
- Ball is taken to half way line as a free kick and further penalty.

NON PENALTY AREA:
- Referees decision is final, if ref does give a free kick for diving, straight red again. If he is unsure he can call upon the replay and panel to verify.

I also think that the managers and coaches have to talk to their players in the good name of the sport. Football is a semi contact sport and should be treated as such. Decisions in games shoould be made during the game, not after. Its very hard to turn decisions over once a game has been completed. Too may ramifications. Why the ref cant just look at the screen before making a decision is beyond me. If a ascreen is unavailable in the stadia, radio comms will do the trick.

Answer 11

Diving and other types of cheating can only be stamped out by the managers and coaches of teams.
The game can move so fast not all referees are that quick to keep up with the game. Also not all referees have played football to a high enough level to realise how good some players are at play acting.
Maybe have 4 referees assistants running the line, they take one half of the pitch each.
As in other sports, particularly rugby and cricket a video official has time to see what happened over and over again. As we do sat at home watching on TV.
Once the referees has given the free kick or penalty there's nothing that can be changed.
Back to the managers and coaches. If the video official decides a player has cheated to gain advantage, a retrospective punishment should be given to the team as a whole. Especially to the managers and coaches. Not some piddly little hand slap but a punishment that will really hurt the team in future games.
In competitions such as the World cup having to play the next game starting with 10 men or starting 1 goal down.
John Bromley Oman