Is diving cheating?

The ‘art’ has existed in football for decades and is, to this day, slated by many. It divides opinions in football like marmite, with indeed the vast majority choosing to hate, rather than love it. I for one love it. That ‘art’ is diving. The act of falling on the floor under little, if indeed any, contact at all. It gets labelled ‘cheating’ and I can see were people are coming from with that. But for me it’s a harsh label. For me, it is intelligence.

How can gaining an advantage for your team, with a moment of skill, not be intelligent? And yes, skill. Anyone who thinks otherwise, try it. The next time you’re on a football pitch, run past an opponent and fall over. You’ll either get laughed at, shouted at or booked. But those who have already mastered it, they will gain a penalty or a free kick and I respect that.

Every fan, or in fact player out there has seen their team concede a penalty off the back of a dive. Then of course, World War 3 commences. That is because you feel cheated or robbed and the referee has been conned into giving the diver’s team a free strike from 12 yards out. Ironically, if it is for your side, everybody is all smiles. I myself have dived, won penalties and countless free kicks through diving. I’ve seen my team mates win penalties and free kicks through diving. I’ve then patted them on the back and said well done. I have also been on the receiving end of a dive. I’ve seen my team concede penalties through dives. And after each and every one of them, I have patted that opponent on the back and said well done. Strange? No, not at all.

Through every single level of football, there is that instance, that moment of genius where someone has struck a ball in the top corner from 35 yards, or that outstanding individual or team effort, where you have to stand back, hold your hands up, give credit where it’s due and say there is nothing we could’ve done about that. It’s similar with the dive. There is nothing you can do. Yes, you feel hard done by, you may well have defended extremely well up until that point. That point when that flailing leg is there to be fell over.

That of course is when that wayward leg is there to be hit. But that leg isn’t always there. There is that dive were no leg is there, and the player goes down. The ‘professional’ diver has a grasp of where the referee is, gets on the blind side and then collapses on the floor. That shows brains, awareness, common sense and skill. That is why it shouldn’t be lambasted in the manor that it is. For me, it’s as much a skill as a pass or a tackle, not as commonly used obviously, but when it is used, and used correctly, it is a moment of class.

The most common dive is of course in the penalty area when a challenge is committed. If you can get a shot away, then hit it, if not and the odds are stacked against you, await that challenge and go down. Why not? You’re not confident that you can get a shot on target, so give yourself a better chance from the penalty spot.

Players, regularly say, “I felt contact”, or “I played for the penalty”. They see the keeper rushing out, then wait to play their final touch past the keeper and go over under his challenge. That is not so much as ‘diving’ because you have played for the contact, but you similarly gain the advantage you’re after.

There are many situations where players choose to dive. You push the ball past the player but aren’t going to get there, so hold back like you’re being pulled. You’re surrounded by two or three players, await a little shove and go down. The best, and most clever dive for me, is when you have your back to their goal, going absolutely nowhere, maybe even on your own goal line, get that little shove and the rest is history. That is a common play in football.

So while you are correct in saying “why foul there”, understand that in that split second, while being under pressure defending near the corner flag, the guy on the floor has gone over easily; he’s dived. But because it’s in an area of no danger, where you can get eleven men behind the ball, the dive isn’t scrutinised. Yet, if that dive is in the penalty area and it’s then him against the goalkeeper, he is chastised. It only seems to be while the beneficiary is then on the offensive, in a dangerous position, he is labelled a cheat.

Looking at the label ‘cheat’, let’s look at another aspect of the game. Another common event in football is the tug on the shirt, or the trip on the halfway line, which inevitably leads to a booking. What is the response to this act from every single fan and commentator watching? “You’ll take a booking there” or “that’s a good foul”.

Now can anyone explain how that is any different from a dive? No, because it isn’t. I agree with the action, and indeed have taken such bookings, but you are identically seeking to gain an advantage for your team, this time defensively. Yet it appears this foul, this ‘cheat’ is publicly tolerated in the game and never referred to as cheating. Now, I’m not saying it should be because it is, again, down to using your brain and putting your team in a better position than having a striker bearing down on your penalty area, but it puzzles me as to why it is looked upon differently to the dive…

I have always admired the dive greatly, and respected the skill greatly. I will continue to dive, I’ll continue to smile at my opponent when they get a free kick against me through a dive. I’ll not rant and rave when my team concedes a penalty through a dive. I always have and always will respect it as intelligent football. I hope readers do too. If not and you’re shaking your head in disbelief at my views, the next time your defender chops someone down on the halfway line and takes a booking for the team, I want you to be thinking ‘cheat’. As the action is identical, and in my eyes, beneficial, advantageous, clever and not cheating.