Stopping diving in football - FIFA's losing battle

Rejecting a proportionate response

Of course, no solution will be perfect. At the end of the day if a player thinks he can get away with diving, and it is at a crucial stage of the match, he will probably do it regardless of the consequences.

With that in mind, all the authorities can do is to create as strong a deterrent as possible to reduce diving incidents to a rare occurrence. Perhaps the best way of doing that is to combine both sin-binning and retrospective suspensions.

A ten minute sin bin penalty would be enforced if the referee believes a player dived during the game, and retrospective action of a three match suspension would be taken if it is confirmed on cameras afterwards, even if no foul was given or booking received during the game itself.

It seems like an extreme approach, but maybe it is exactly what is needed. If these rules had been in place this season, Manchester United youngster Adnan Januzaj would have missed half an hour of game time in the sin bin and 9 competitive matches due to retrospective suspension. As a young player, a lesson that potent would not be soon forgotten.

It doesn’t just apply to Januzaj, of course. There are many other players renowned for their propensity for simulation; Ashley Young, Gareth Bale, Luis Suarez, Fernando Torres and Oscar to name a few. If they had received suspensions and sin-bin time for their troubles, perhaps the culture of football would have changed. It would no longer be worth the risk.

Paying more than lip service

If FIFA and the other football bodies really want to commit to getting rid of diving, then harsh punishment and retrospective action is the way to do it. For years now, FIFA officials have had a fixation on diving as the root of all evil in football.

In 2010, strides were made when FIFA ruled that it will not stand in the way of national associations who wish to use video evidence to punish players found guilty of simulation, paving the way for the enforcement of retrospective action.

However, FIFA’s ruling only refers specifically to incidents which have escaped the match officials’ attention. If a referee has seen an incident during a match but determined that it was not a dive, no retrospective action can be taken.

That wasn’t enough, and FIFA know it. In 2012, FIFA Vice-President Jim Boyce attacked the culture of diving, saying “to me [diving] is nothing less than cheating. It’s becoming a cancer within the game. If it is clear it’s simulation, they should be severely punished.”

Blatter then added to that this January and many other respected men in world football have contributed their own voices to the cause. The entire football world seems to want to act.

It is frustrating, then, that nothing has been done to actually achieve that goal. Paying lip service isn’t enough, and sooner or later the authorities are going to have to realise that. If FIFA is so concerned by the culture of diving in the modern game, they should at least have the fortitude to meet the problem head on and do something to stop it.

Until they do, nothing is going to change. Diving will still be a worthwhile risk; players will still do it; the talking heads on television will still condemn it; and Sepp Blatter will probably write an angry letter next year saying something needs to be done to stop it.

And around and around we’ll go.