Diving? Play on ref!

By Orville Higgins

I have a few problems with some of the rules in football, and chief among them is the referee's right to show a yellow card to a player who 'dives' in order to fool the officials that he was unlawfully challenged. The issue of simulation, to give it its official name, has always been hotly debated, and was brought back to the front burner this week when respected figure Graham Poll, one of the game's best-known referees, called it the "number one problem in our game".

Poll cited a few incidents in his Daily Mail article, including the showing of a yellow card to Chelsea midfielder Oscar, who got a yellow card for simulating contact against Southampton goalkeeper Kelvin Davis a few days ago. I watched the game, and yes, Oscar could have got an 'Oscar' for his performance. He had a fairly clear path to goal and chose instead to hit the ground pretending that he was fouled by Davis. Manchester United's Adnan Janujaz has been booked three times for diving, making him the best (or worst) diver in the English Premier League so far this season. Not for one minute am I encouraging players to dive, but to book a player who does that is, as far as I'm concerned, taking the matter too far. To suggest that this is the biggest problem affecting the English game, certainly borders on ridiculous.

So what if a player dives? What's the big deal? He is trying to get an advantage by fooling the referee, but so what? There are too many other examples of players trying to get an advantage in football that don't necessarily carry a yellow card penalty. A goalkeeper, for example, who moves forward, rather than sideways, prior to impact of the ball in a penalty is indeed trying to get an unfair advantage, (by cutting the angle) but that isn't a bookable offence. All that happens is that the kick is taken over if saved. A player who smartly moves the ball a few yards closer to his opponents' goal for a free kick is trying to get an advantage and indeed is trying to trick the referee, but I can't recall seeing too many players being booked for that. Sure, I have seen several referees instructing the player to roll the ball back, but that's about it. So why punish the diver?

bookable offence

I have seen balls crossing the goal line from a defender's boot and a forward taking the credit and pretending they were the one who scored even when they didn't touch the ball. Why isn't that a bookable offence? Because clearly, such a player is trying to trick the referee too. Think about it, the fact that the referee gave the diver a yellow card for simulation means that the referee was aware of the trick the player was trying to pull. This means that the referee was doing his job, which is to spot infringements and be the sole arbiter of fair and unfair play. By booking the player who dived, the referee is essentially saying to the player that he is punishing him for making his job harder. Why should that be? The player who dived is at that time, giving the opposing team an advantage, because they now have 11 players on their feet and ready for battle while his side has one man who is on the ground and therefore not ready for battle. The referee should simply ignore the diving player and get along with the game.

Orville Higgins is a sportscaster and talk-show host on KLAS FM. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.