Diving, embellishment, simulation. Call it what you want, but it’s hurting the league. I’ve seen it first-hand. People in bars, colleagues at work, or even friends who are sports fans who watch a game with me and howl at the sight of professional athletes screaming in pain, clutching at body parts when they were lightly brushed by an opponent, all while keeping one eye open to peer at the official to see if they’re act is working.
First of all, it looks silly. Grown men screaming at the top of their lungs, writhing in pain so apparently great they need a medical trainer and a stretcher, only to be sprinting down the field seconds later. Or worse, players feigning a head injury, acting as if they’ve been concussed in hopes of their opposition catching discipline.
Secondly, it can, and frequently does, change the outcome of a game. Too often, entertaining and meaningful games are turned on their head by a phantom foul. Part of the problem is officiating. You would hope that the officials are perfect and can detect the difference between legitimate illegal conduct, and a player trying to pull one over on him. Unfortunately, the officials aren’t perfect. It’s obvious the MLS is striving to improve the level, but the game is fast, and the field is big, and it’s impossible to have a perfect angle of everything.
Now, the MLS is not alone. It is a global problem. Every league, every country, every tournament has problems with diving. And it’s not just soccer. Basketball is terrible for theatrics as well. Even in hockey, diving has become an issue. But the MLS can become the first major league to take steps to eradicate embellishment.
Lucky for us, the FIFA Laws of the Game, the very rules by which all leagues abide, already address this very issue. Law 12 states that if a player “attempts to deceive the referee by feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled (simulation)” a yellow card caution shall be shown.
It would be difficult to have officials crack down on this. You could, and probably should try. I’m sure asking officials to crack down on obvious dives would result in an increase in yellow cards and a slight decrease in embellishment overall. But like I said before, the officials aren’t perfect and it can be difficult to identify.
But we live in a modern world with a dozen cameras on every play of the game. Sometimes it can still be hard to identify what an actual foul was and what was a dive. Usually, dives are both. A player gets legitimately fouled, and he also launches himself through the air to make sure the official sees it. I’m not talking about those ones. I’m talking about the real obvious ones. Sometimes there are dives so obvious, so cynical, that they embarrass the official, the league, and the sport.
One of those instances happened Sunday in Vancouver. In the 59th minute of the game between the Whitecaps and FC Dallas, Darren Mattocks was shown a yellow card for a foul on Dallas keeper Raul Fernandez. While the camera angles shown on the MLS highlight package here are inconclusive, I was sitting right in front of this event and a replay with a perfect angle was later shown.
Darren Mattocks made absolutely no contact with Raul Fernandez. Not even close. Fernandez rolled over, flayed his arms out, and looked as if he had serious head trauma. Referee Kevin Stott showed Mattocks the yellow card. I can understand why. Fernandez’ body is obstructing the view of his own head, making it a difficult call for the official to make. But it was very plainly a case of Fernandez attempting to gain an advantage by simulation.
Now is where the league has to step in. If plays like this continue, there is a reward for this unsporting behaviour. Mattocks has to play the remainder of the game on a yellow, may get suspended for a future game for yellow card accumulation, and Fernandez laughs to himself and will no doubt try his dishonesty again later.
It’s an easy fix that only requires some perseverance on your part. The rule is already there. A committee exists whose job it is to review controversial plays. If you want to be really kind to teams, you could even send out a memo and warn them of this new attention to embellishment.
Then all you have to do is issue retroactive fines and suspensions for unsporting behaviour. It’s really simple. If you keep reaching into Fernandez’ pocketbook for $2500 and suspending him for a game, he won’t be so eager to try to fleece the refs in the future. Neither will his teammates or his coach. Quite the opposite. Coaches will actually encourage fair play, as they won’t want to risk their players facing retroactive discipline. Soon, the MLS will get a reputation as being tough on diving and most players won’t even bother anymore.
You’ll gain the respect of current fans, foreign soccer fans, and the casual observers close to home. You’ll even gain the respect of most of the players and coaches who play the game with honour and integrity. So start today. Rescind the yellow card to Darren Mattocks and suspend Fernandez for his unsporting behaviour. After all, it’s the law.
This letter was submitted to the MLS on July 28, 2014. I’ll let you know if I hear any reply. If I do hear back, I’ll be sure to e-mail them my next suggestion regarding player dissent!