July 10, 2010
MY TWO CENTS
Soccer must clean itself up
By Brian Gearon
Special to Bigapplesoccer.com
As a former player who took pride in playing hard yet professional, I find that each World Cup the art of diving is getting worse.
While I understand it is a part of the game, especially in the attacking third, it is, in my opinion, one of the main reasons soccer hasn't fully taken off in the United States. In most publications or discussions, many "non/true" soccer fans will always point to the act of rolling around on the ground after a phantom hit or light touch.
The majority of sports fans in America want to see a 300 lb. linebacker at full speed crashing into a quarterback or a good old hockey fight. It keeps us on the edge of our seats and entertains us. I fall guilty to this as well.
But the acting needs to stop or at the very least be cut down. Seeing a player hit in the arm yet fall to the grown grabbing their shin is an embarrassment to our game. It is an insult to a beautiful game and I question whether or not the players practice it in front of a mirror.
If we could eliminate or minimize this "skill" the game would elevate to new levels.
I believe after the '94 or '98 World Cup, FIFA made the rule change that once the trainers came onto the field, the player must leave the pitch until the ref allows them back on (normally this is as soon as the ball is put into play).
I would love to see FIFA step in again; in a discussion with my friends I brought up the idea of penalizing players who are wasting time.
The rule: If any medical staff comes onto the pitch, the player who is "injured", will need to be removed from playing field for no more than five minutes. I feel this would eliminate a lot of the diving and acting as players will not want to risk coming off the field for five minutes, leaving their team the disadvantage.
I know most people will say this is impossible to govern, but is it really? In the case of an actual injury, either the manager will be aware of this and put in a replacement or you will receive treatment (magic spray) which will remove you from play anyway.
In the case of cuts and blood is present, the rule should not apply. Players should come off the pitch, get bandaged, and be allowed back on when the blood is no longer visible.
I would love to see MLS implement some type of rule around this in hopes it would catch on to the higher governing body, such as FIFA. Is this a pipe dream? Most likely. But perhaps one day someone will crack down on this embarrassing behavior, as acting doesn't belong in our beautiful game.
"The opinions reflected in the My Two Cents columns do not express the views of the editors or management of BigAppleSoccer. com" If you want to respond to this story or have an opinion of your own, send it to email.
