Being a huge sports fan in general, I have often been quite vocal in my belief that football is, by far and away, the worst refereed and the worst governed sport in the world.
In recent times, we have seen examples of the complete lack of consistency that exists in the way the authorities within the sport deal with certain issues. Examples such as an £80k fine for an individual, Nicklas Bendtner, for bearing the name of a bookmaker on his kit; yet only a €12.5k fine for a team for failing to deal with the almost constant racism that blights the international game. Going further back, Everton ourselves have fallen victim to the lack of equity in the punishments handed out. In that instance being banned from European competition for actions outside our control, where thirty years down the line, UEFA hand out paltry sanctions to clubs who regularly bring the game into disrepute whether via hooliganism, racism or other means. The ultimate irony is that the honour of being a host nation of a World Cup has been bestowed upon two countries who have not exactly "kept their noses clean" in their recent sporting and political histories.
But as it is possible to rant about the inadequacies of the governing bodies of world football for as long as you could want, lets keep matters on the pitch.
Last summer, one of the most criticised aspects of the modern game was addressed. Goal line technology was finally introduced after years of campaigning following numerous poor decisions (albeit one which helped Everton massively in 1997). The introduction of goal line technology has put-to-bed so many arguments and poor decisions but has also removed a huge burden off referees who previously had to make a decision in real-time and would be hung out to dry whenever they got it wrong. I would argue that it has been a complete success.
The one remaining problem which should know be focused on is that of diving. Over the last 10 years, it has become to be a bigger and bigger problem. This is arguably down to the influx of foreign talent that has made its way to our shores, but the biggest worry of all is that it is now influencing our young British talent. In recent years, we have seen Ashley Young and Gareth Bale become embroiled in diving scandals overshadowing their own talents. Whereas it may be more acceptable on the continent, it certainly isn't in this country and I would like to believe that 95% of British football fans want it stamping out of our game.
The current punishment for diving in the Premier League is a yellow card. This is where my problem with the consistency of the punishments rears its head again. In contrast, if a defender deliberately prevents a striker from running through on goal, he may very well face a three-pronged punishment. He will receive a straight red card, a subsequent 3 game ban and potentially a penalty if the foul is committed in the penalty area. In summary those three punishments are for deliberately denying a goal scoring opportunity. My argument is that diving is similarly, deliberately attempting to create a goal scoring opportunity so should demand a punishment of similar severity, or at least more severe than what is currently dished out.
I appreciate that it is considerably more difficult for the match officials to ascertain whether a player has deliberately dived or not in comparison to judging whether a defender has committed a foul as the last man. In addition, there is much more to interpret, for example a player has the right to go down if clipped even if there is not enough physical contact to make him go down. This may mean that a straight red card my not be the best route to go down as it could lead to further miscarriages of justice on the side of the deemed offender.
My solution would be to enlist an independent committee to review each incident on a individual basis with three match suspensions for anyone found guilty (rising to four if found guilty twice in a season). This already exists for incidents such as violent conduct. I would argue that this offence is of equal importance. If I was a professional, I think I would be equally upset about someone trying to cheat me, as opposed to someone elbowing me or such and such. In fact, I remember approximately five years ago, Eduardo for Arsenal dived in a Champions League match against Celtic and was retrospectively banned for two games. Yet since then, no further steps have been taken to eradicate the problem from the game.
I understand that a retrospective committee will also not make it totally fair; the team who have conceded a penalty to a dive will likely concede a goal from the penalty, will continue to play against eleven men and will have no right to appeal the result should they lose as that is certainly not manageable. However, I do think this proposal would quickly remove the problem from the British game.
Take Luis Suarez for example. I use him, not because he plays for our neighbours, but because I believe him to be the most talented and valuable player in the Premier League currently who also has a reputation for this type of behaviour. If he commits a dive and is found guilty, he will receive a three game ban. If he does it again in that season, he will receive a four game ban. So in total, Liverpool would be without a star striker worth approximately £50-60m for seven games of a thirty-eight game season. If he didn't realise the need to change his behaviour himself following this, his club certainly would. These incidents would soon evaporate and the game would benefit as a whole as the emphasis is taken away from gamesmanship and put back on skill and quality.
I can't for one reason or another, understand why something similar to this hasn't been implemented already. I am not sure how the system works; would the FA need to seek approval from the wider international authorities? In which case, that may be a stumbling block as it considerably more acceptable overseas.
All I know is the longer this goes on, the more fans are going to fall out of love with the game. We will be enjoying the World Cup in less than two weeks, but sadly I would argue that the amount of blatant outright cheating will be equal to the moments of sheer class that we will see and that just doesn't seem right to me.
In recent times, we have seen examples of the complete lack of consistency that exists in the way the authorities within the sport deal with certain issues. Examples such as an £80k fine for an individual, Nicklas Bendtner, for bearing the name of a bookmaker on his kit; yet only a €12.5k fine for a team for failing to deal with the almost constant racism that blights the international game. Going further back, Everton ourselves have fallen victim to the lack of equity in the punishments handed out. In that instance being banned from European competition for actions outside our control, where thirty years down the line, UEFA hand out paltry sanctions to clubs who regularly bring the game into disrepute whether via hooliganism, racism or other means. The ultimate irony is that the honour of being a host nation of a World Cup has been bestowed upon two countries who have not exactly "kept their noses clean" in their recent sporting and political histories.
But as it is possible to rant about the inadequacies of the governing bodies of world football for as long as you could want, lets keep matters on the pitch.
Last summer, one of the most criticised aspects of the modern game was addressed. Goal line technology was finally introduced after years of campaigning following numerous poor decisions (albeit one which helped Everton massively in 1997). The introduction of goal line technology has put-to-bed so many arguments and poor decisions but has also removed a huge burden off referees who previously had to make a decision in real-time and would be hung out to dry whenever they got it wrong. I would argue that it has been a complete success.
The one remaining problem which should know be focused on is that of diving. Over the last 10 years, it has become to be a bigger and bigger problem. This is arguably down to the influx of foreign talent that has made its way to our shores, but the biggest worry of all is that it is now influencing our young British talent. In recent years, we have seen Ashley Young and Gareth Bale become embroiled in diving scandals overshadowing their own talents. Whereas it may be more acceptable on the continent, it certainly isn't in this country and I would like to believe that 95% of British football fans want it stamping out of our game.
The current punishment for diving in the Premier League is a yellow card. This is where my problem with the consistency of the punishments rears its head again. In contrast, if a defender deliberately prevents a striker from running through on goal, he may very well face a three-pronged punishment. He will receive a straight red card, a subsequent 3 game ban and potentially a penalty if the foul is committed in the penalty area. In summary those three punishments are for deliberately denying a goal scoring opportunity. My argument is that diving is similarly, deliberately attempting to create a goal scoring opportunity so should demand a punishment of similar severity, or at least more severe than what is currently dished out.
I appreciate that it is considerably more difficult for the match officials to ascertain whether a player has deliberately dived or not in comparison to judging whether a defender has committed a foul as the last man. In addition, there is much more to interpret, for example a player has the right to go down if clipped even if there is not enough physical contact to make him go down. This may mean that a straight red card my not be the best route to go down as it could lead to further miscarriages of justice on the side of the deemed offender.
My solution would be to enlist an independent committee to review each incident on a individual basis with three match suspensions for anyone found guilty (rising to four if found guilty twice in a season). This already exists for incidents such as violent conduct. I would argue that this offence is of equal importance. If I was a professional, I think I would be equally upset about someone trying to cheat me, as opposed to someone elbowing me or such and such. In fact, I remember approximately five years ago, Eduardo for Arsenal dived in a Champions League match against Celtic and was retrospectively banned for two games. Yet since then, no further steps have been taken to eradicate the problem from the game.
I understand that a retrospective committee will also not make it totally fair; the team who have conceded a penalty to a dive will likely concede a goal from the penalty, will continue to play against eleven men and will have no right to appeal the result should they lose as that is certainly not manageable. However, I do think this proposal would quickly remove the problem from the British game.
Take Luis Suarez for example. I use him, not because he plays for our neighbours, but because I believe him to be the most talented and valuable player in the Premier League currently who also has a reputation for this type of behaviour. If he commits a dive and is found guilty, he will receive a three game ban. If he does it again in that season, he will receive a four game ban. So in total, Liverpool would be without a star striker worth approximately £50-60m for seven games of a thirty-eight game season. If he didn't realise the need to change his behaviour himself following this, his club certainly would. These incidents would soon evaporate and the game would benefit as a whole as the emphasis is taken away from gamesmanship and put back on skill and quality.
I can't for one reason or another, understand why something similar to this hasn't been implemented already. I am not sure how the system works; would the FA need to seek approval from the wider international authorities? In which case, that may be a stumbling block as it considerably more acceptable overseas.
All I know is the longer this goes on, the more fans are going to fall out of love with the game. We will be enjoying the World Cup in less than two weeks, but sadly I would argue that the amount of blatant outright cheating will be equal to the moments of sheer class that we will see and that just doesn't seem right to me.
