Overreacting To Diving

Stop me if this sounds familiar.  A player speeds into the penalty, maybe shows at bit of skill, wrong foots his opponent, sees an opportunity, forces contact and takes a tumble. The referee immediately awards a penalty as the defender protest his innocence, replays prove the con job, commentators tell us how disgusting it all is as the fans scream bloody murder from the stands. The player dusts himself off, dispatches the spot kick with ease then takes his turn as public enemy number one. We’ve all heard that one before.

OK, now stop me again.  A single goal separates two teams desperate for points, a set piece breaks to the defending team, and they’re off on the counter when a retreating full back intentionally fouls a pacy winger. The referee issues a yellow card, the commentators call it a smart move and crowd applauds the defender. The defender plays on and no one cares.  Heard that one before too?

Each incident involves blatant cheating, each incident carries the same punishment if caught, yet one is much more vilified than the other. Why?

The obvious reason is that the latter is usually punished whereas the perpetrator of the former did to get away with it. That’s a weak argument, in the modern game a booking is often no punishment at all. It takes five yellow cards for a suspension, many mid fielders will now go a season without ever accumulating that amount of bookings,  few defenders may do the same. For a lot of players a yellow card is not a big deal. The free kick clearly isn’t an adequate punishment; otherwise the defender wouldn’t tug the shirt in the first place. It’s not a fair trade.

You could argue the seriousness of the situation is why people find diving abhorrent. That there is virtually no outrage due to a dive in the centre circle supports this. But for that to be the case we would have to be equally angry at the players who appeal for major decisions that they know they do not deserve. This past weekend Chelsea were awarded a goal that did not cross the line. After the game Chelsea Captain, John Terry admitted he thought it was not a goal, so why did he appeal for one? Player reactions can influence a referee’s decision as much as a dive can. So, is it OK to con the referee in one way but not the other? Former professionals argue that you are taught from a young age to claim everything; does that mean if we teach kids to dive it will suddenly become alright?

Why do we hate diving so much? Is it the belief that it is a foreign disease that is infecting our kids? Is it machismo? We have to be the biggest, the strongest, no one shall knock us down. Maybe. That would explain why Ashley Young’s dive generated more outrage that Mario Balotelli potentially leg breaking challenge on Song?

I don’t know the answer. But one thing is for sure. There are many ways to cheat in a game of football, only one seems to get our blood boiling.  And if we want a fair sport maybe it’s time to realise that eliminating divers won’t help much.