Diving

The media here have recently been slagging off Premiership football players who "dive" in order to win a penalty or to have another player sent off. The main justification for their campaign is that diving is unsportsmanlike and should be regarded as cheating. Playing the game fairly is obviously more important than winning. How very English.

In some other countries, players who gain an advantage for their team by fooling the referee are considered to be clever, if they get away with it. They are generally only criticised if the ruse backfires and their team is disadvantaged.

There is also a rather nasty racial undertone to the campaign because the main culprits are seen to be foreigners, with Didier Drogba being singled out for the fiercest criticism. I didn't hear much from the media when Wayne Rooney dived to win a penalty for Manchester United against Arsenal, which ended Arsenal's 49-match unbeaten run.

Commentators and pundits seem to think that the way to stamp out cheating is to promote fair play and to shame the perpetrators. This may have a limited effect in the Premiership, but it won't help English teams when they play in Europe and it doesn't address the fundamental problem.

Some years ago, the people who run the Beautiful Game decided to crack down on another undesirable tactic - the professional foul. They did so by decreeing that any foul committed by the last defender or goalkeeper that prevented a goalscoring opportunity should be punished with a red card (in addition to the normal sanction: a free kick or penalty). This has certainly had the intended effect: professional fouls are no longer the problem they once were.

However, this change also had some undesirable consequences. The most obvious is that the balance of power has shifted in favour of the attacking players. It should be no surprise to anyone, therefore, that smart forwards are taking advantage by going down whenever there is the slightest contact or even no contact at all.

It all comes down to gains against risks. Should a defender attempt a last ditch tackle on someone with only the goalkeeper to beat? Probably not, unless he is sure he will take the ball cleanly. Should a forward take a dive in the box when he doesn't think he will score and the referee is 30 yards away? Probably so.

The solution is to make the punishment fit the crime. The first change I would like to see would be to issue a red card only when the last defender commits a foul outside the box to prevent a clear goalscoring opportunity. If it happens inside the box then it should be a yellow card (and a penalty, of course). The second change would be to class all simulation, feigning injury or even just asking for a player to be cautioned as unsportsmanlike behaviour, punishable with a yellow card. I would also like to see asking for or attempting to get a player sent off punishable with a red card.

Finally, I think that there should be some retrospective sanction if the referee doesn't see a particular incident. I am worried about widespread "trials by media" but I would like players to be banned for future matches if they are found to have deceived officials deliberately.