Diving is part of the modern game

During Sky’s Monday Night Football Gary Neville admitted that diving is ‘part of the game’, an idea that will have raised eyebrows of football fans up and down the country, but is it true?

It was, in my opinion, embarrassing to see Manchester United‘s Ashley Young go to ground against QPR after the slightest of touches from Shaun Derry, and even worse when he dramatically took to the air after colliding with Ciaran Clark (not the other way around) this weekend. I don’t mean to pinpoint Young in particular, he’s not the only guilty party, but his recent performances mean he is in the forefront of the mind.

A lot of blame may fall upon the player, however, the officials aren’t to get off without their fair share. If the players are going to ground too easily then why are whistles being blown and flags going up? The officials are, under a huge amount of scrutiny for their decisions, it doesn’t help to ease the tension when it comes to making the big decisions when players go down in the box.

The pressure on players and officials is huge and I’m not sure many people can relate to that but when the point has come where a player is willing to cheat fellow professionals, because that’s essentially what ‘simulation’ is, then things have gone way too far. Diving goes way beyond the football pitch, it is dishonest and cheating is morally wrong.

Arguments like this always go to ‘what do the kids watching think’ but it’s true, it’s teaching the to deceive those who enforce the rules on the pitch. The children watching see their footballing idol throw himself to the floor and they are likely to copy them, it’ll cause havoc at junior games all over the country.

Players and managers alike plead for the protection of the players and I agree that is certainly needed. It isn’t for the players to protect themselves by going to ground when it looks like there’s a tackle coming, let the officials and the rule makers eradicate the dangerous tackles. At the end of the day it’s a contact sport and that is what gives the game a lot of it’s fierce competitive edge.

Fans might not want to admit it but it can’t be hidden diving certainly is ‘part of the game’. Until somebody in the game takes a stance and says ‘diving will not be tolerated’, it will continue to happen.

Sam Jewell

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