Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The Diving Controversy Continues

Looks like the controversy revolving around diving is not going away anytime too soon. The latest figure to jump in the fray is FIFA Vice President, Jim Boyce, who is also Great Britain's representative to football's global governing body.

According to a report by Soccernet, Boyce said: "I have seen several incidents recently, and I watched the latest Suarez incident two or three times, and to me it is nothing less than a form of cheating."

"It is becoming a little bit of a cancer within the game and I believe if it is clear to everyone that it is simulation then that person is trying to cheat and they should be severely punished for that.

"It can be dealt with retrospectively by disciplinary committees, and it is done so in some associations, and I believe that is the correct thing to do.

"It can at times be very, very difficult for referees to judge whether something is a foul or a fair tackle and if players are diving then it makes their job even harder."

This talk of retrospective punishments on players for diving was mooted over the weekend by Stoke City boss, Tony Pulis (see below for my take on that). And the diver in question here is none other Luis Suarez.

To be honest, it seems odd that FIFA's vice-president wants to weigh in on an issue like this. If diving can be punished retrospectively, then it's safe to say that lots of players will be carrying lengthy suspensions.

If FIFA's intention here is to curb diving, then surely there are other means to do so and one that the football world seems to stubbornly reject: instant video replays.

Just about every major sport in the world uses instant video replays to ensure that referees don't get to decide an outcome of a game based on a miscalculated decision.

Perhaps FIFA and national football associations believe that the introduction of video replays will lengthen matches as it could take time to review the replays before making a decision. This is turn brings up the next question: would referees use video replays for some or all of their decisions? And if they did use it for every decision, wouldn't matches get longer?

These are certainly valid questions but hardly enough to reject the notion of introducing video replays into football. For one, each match is officiated by four officials and very often, the fourth official's responsibilities include pausing the matches for substitutions and announcing stoppage time.

But another crucial responsibility for the fourth official is in assisting the match referee. If the fourth official is given a monitor that shows him the video replays all of us get to see at home, then he would clearly be able to advise the referee on matters such as diving. And it doesn't even take a minute to review the footage.

Furthermore, video replays would not only point out diving, it would also ensure that illegal tackles don't get away unpunished. If video technology was present at the recent Liverpool - Man Utd match, we could have very well had a different outcome.

Speaking of Liverpool and Man Utd, let's be honest about Suarez. He isn't the first footballer to go down easily although you have to admit that he is often subjected to some rough tackles. Just about every footballer seems to undergo some severe gravitational pull every time he enters his opponent's penalty box.


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