On most days I have a lot of sympathy for referees in football. In a fast-paced sport where decisions have to be taken on the spot and in a matter of seconds, their job is certainly a demanding one and is always under a lot of scrutiny. The referees face hostility from players, fans and managers, knowing that every action of theirs will be dissected in TV studios, on Twitter and other online forums, in newspapers, pubs and even in living rooms.
The issue of diving and simulation in football is an ongoing one. Sometimes the names and faces change, but there are a lot of usual suspects who are guilty of diving. Ashley Young, Gareth Bale, Luis Suarez - of late, Brazilian superstar Neymar, too, has been added to the list.
Neymar is a wonderful talent - although a bit overhyped in my opinion - but he has this ugly side to his game. He goes to the ground far too easily, feigns injury and often rolls around on the ground as if a sniper took a shot at him. To see such talented players rolling around and pretending to be hurt, when most of the times they are conning the referee to earn a foul, is embarrassing.
Last week when Barcelona played Glasgow Celtic in the group stages of the Champions League, Neymar made a spectacle out of a foul by Scott Brown. Brown was given a straight red, and in a closely fought game till that point, it was a game changer. Barcelona won the game 1-0 and Celtic were left to rue the actions of Neymar.
You will often hear commentators and experts - more so if you watch the English Premier League often - that it's only South American players who have the habit of diving. Trust the English to paint themselves as holier-than-thou, but the fact is English players are equally guilty. Ashley Young is a serial diver for Manchester United; watch some of the videos of Steven Gerrard going to the ground so easily and it will make you cringe.
In Spain and Italy too, diving is widespread. El Clasico, the game between Real Madrid and Barcelona, should ideally be a showpiece event. But it is generally full of diving, feigning injuries, imaginary card waving and badgering the referee to book a player. It becomes more El Farcico than El Clasico - at least that has been the case in the last few years.
Simply put, diving is cheating, and cheating in any form, in any sport should not be tolerated. You can argue that skillful players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar get kicked so many times during a match by defenders that they end up exaggerating the contact. Or that Gareth Bale is supremely quick and even a slight touch results in a fall. Players will obviously try to get any sort of advantage to help their team - the stakes are too high, the pressure is immense. Unfortunately, the beautiful game is being ruined by the ugly antics of a few players and the apathetic attitude of the few wise men running the game.
Football's governing bodies haven't woken up and done anything to eradicate diving. Why haven't more stringent measures been adopted to discourage players from conning the referee? What's stopping them to introduce technology in the sport and ensure that any player who tries to deceive a referee is harshly punished. It has been going on for years, but not much has been done to stamp it out. Of course, football federations will point out that there have been incidents in which the referee would book a player for diving. However, such incidents more or less go unpunished.
Chelsea's charismatic manager, Jose Mourinho, recently came out and said that how he hoped the authorities would come down harshly on divers. Several other managers have echoed his sentiments and have been doing so for many years. The dinosaurs sitting in the FIFA headquarters in Zurich took years to implement goal-line technology in the sport, so I don't expect them to act anytime soon on introducing video evidence in punishing divers.
So what's the solution? It is time for referees to be brave and start sending off players for diving. Forget yellow cards or having a few words of caution, a straight red card would mean a three-game ban. Players will at least think twice about conning the referee again. In no other sport can you get away with blatant cheating so easily. Sadly, it looks as though diving is here to stay and will continue to contaminate the sport till the authorities wake up and start doing their bit.
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper
