IS DIVING SPOILING THE BEAUTIFUL GAME?

It’s becoming a problem. Diving on football’s biggest stages to win free kicks or get the opposition booked is becoming the norm. It was a big problem in the World Cup when it was supposed to be clamped down and it also raises the question should there be another official on the pitch? Video evidence is another option but it would be far more difficult. It’s no secret that we have the technology to have a pitchside camera but uprooting football’s tradition of one referee and two linesmen is another problem. Excuse the pun but playacting in professional football has risen ‘dramatically’ the last couple of years. It belongs in the pool.

The worst offenders are most probably Chelsea with 95% of fans admitting that their team had dived. With Didier Drogba and Shaun Wright-Phillips both caught in controversies. With Wright- Phillips an exception foreigners have been blamed of importing diving to the English Premiership©. Although the state of diving in the Premiership has deteriorated, the amount of racism has sharply decreased which is great news for FIFA.

Bad behaviour in football is another serious issue with Zinedine Zidane’s World Cup final head butt standing out like a sore thumb. Although Italian defender Marco Materazzi did insult Zinedine’s sister, violence in the game absolutely disgusts me.
He was at first punished with a three match ban but seeing as he had retired he was given three days community service. Materazzi later apologised for his comments. Even though Zidane was punished for despicable actions he was named in FIFA’s XI of 2006. This sends out a message to children that violence is ok.


Players’ reputation is another common problem. Wayne Rooney, the Manchester United wonder kid is recognized by referees as an aggressive player. He was brought up in a violent area of Liverpool and did boxing as a kid. But a few red cards and a dire attitude has got him in the referee’s bad books. His red card in Germany against Portugal was just another example of this. A little argument at a restaurant with Blackburn player Michael Gray was made into a huge story out of by the press. It was just another stain on the player’s record.


The amount of foreign players is unquestionably a problem. In the year of 2002, 56% of players in the Premiership were of overseas origin it’s a fear-provoking amount. Arsenals are by far the worst offenders with 81% of their players coming from another country. After Ashley Cole’s controversial transfer to Chelsea, most people will struggle to think of British Arsenal players (if you can you are very special). I think that the more British based players in the Premiership the better. A batch of people will be in agreement I’m sure.

So has the introduction to overseas players to the English league spoilt the nature of the beautiful game? Is Stamford Bridge an Olympic Swimming Pool? Should there be goal line technology? Should there be a rule on the amount of foreign people in a squad? These are all questions that need to be answered.