Taking a Dive

For me taking a dive in sport to gain a penalty or simply just to stop play is a blight in sport.  Recent games by the Socceroos against Oman and Thailand have raised this issue again and it won't be the last time. 

It is amazing how many times a player goes down like he has been chopped down with an axe, writhing in pain, only for a trainer to come onto the field, apply a magic sponge or spray and suddenly the player can bounce back up and continue to play the rest of the game.  This has been going on for years and as long as the refs and officials allow it to happen it won't stop anytime soon. 

Just ask Lucas Neill about diving and the serial offenders Italy

Of late it has come to a point that teams are not playing by the unwritten code of kicking the ball out if a player is injured or not returning the ball to the opposition that kicked it out.  The media and team officials are always very loud and vocal in pointing out this sort of action but very quiet about the diving.  Yes you will read articles here and there but it is not much more than a murmur. 

What needs to happen is serious changes to rules to get positive change to the situation.  Yellow cards should be wielded more often or on a more contentious note a player who requires treatment must be taken off the field for 5 minutes to be treated.  This would be a unwelcome course of action and would cause lots of debate but it is at a point where something drastic needs to happen.

On top of this there should be more scrutiny and highlighting of players that are serial offenders of diving and impositions of 1 match bans imposed.  If a team has 3 or more players dive in one game then the coach should be banned for a period as this many players indicates a directive from coaching staff. 

There are always ways to remove negative tactics from a sport it is just whether or not the authorities who can make the change have the bravado to do so.