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Diving a disease that must be cured

08/31/2010 04:47:20 AM

Banning two players for simulation sends a clear message. The A-League are going to do their part to help rid the world game of the disease that is diving, and we certainly shouldn't feel sorry for Central Coast Mariners midfielder Patricio Perez or Perth Glory striker Michael Baird.

Both Perez and Baird were successful in milking a penalty for their side on the weekend and in both cases the spot kicks were converted, meaning the teams penalised, Sydney FC and Melbourne Heart, remain winless so far this season

The worst thing about Perez's dive on the weekend was that if he'd simply kept chasing the ball he would have been able to get to it in a position to take a shot at an empty goal.

Robbie Kruse scored Melbourne Victory's goal in their 1-0 over Gold Coast United by beating the keeper's lunge and then making his shot on the run from a tight angle.

Perez on the other hand called on an instinct to crumple dramatically to the pitch, hoping to set up a goal with his acting skills rather than his ability.

Diving is the scourge of the sport. The A-League taking a clear position on it early in the season is good for the game in Australia.

Personally, football rates below mixed martial arts, boxing, league, cricket, and a host of other sports, but I do tune in for the big matches, and I enjoy covering the Roar's games for Sportal.

If the goal for the A-League is to attract the casual fan, I'd be right in their demographic, and I have to believe that taking steps to ensure the diving epidemic that plagued the World Cup doesn't spread to Australia is a great move.

Watching the World Cup with friends I lost count of how many times I heard a dive or exaggerated injury described as pathetic. And it was.

Tito Ortiz, a one-time UFC light-heavyweight champion, used to say, 'if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying' but even if some agree, the majority of fans want to see their sporting contests won on athletic merit.

Watching the World Cup I saw countless players, some ranking among the most popular on the planet, staying down from make-believe injuries - channelling Linda Blair in the Exorcist and calling for the stretcher - only to come back to life with full fitness once they felt they'd made their point.

What happened to never showing your opponent you're hurt? Apart from it being strange to think a competitive athlete would ever want to show weakness in front of an opponent, from a commercial viewpoint it's poison - sports fans love a tough bastard.

Steve Waugh could get hit with a 150km rocket from Curtley Ambrose and because he'd stand there and not even rub it, Australia loved the Iceman. Prior to that the same could be said of Allan Border.

Articles have been written that rate Michael De Vere getting his face stapled back together in 2007 without batting an eyelid as one of the most defining moments in State of Origin's history, and the grizzly scene gets a run in every highlights package.

Admittedly, there have been players in league similarly accused of diving, but the incidents are much rarer and there is instant uproar and condemnation. The football community needs to treat divers the same way.

When Jarryd Hayne was thought

 
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Comments
Posted by Linda Ashkanasy at
01/09/2010 09:27 AM
I bet the world governing body does not take this world wide, much of the training of soccer players is in acting out dives. Yes it should be banned and the opposition given a free kick not the diver, that would change the attitude of milking free kicks.

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