Category Archives: FA

By Tom Gaunt

Eduardo: Cheat

For some time we have been debating how to deter cheats in football. In recent times cheating has become more prevalent and cheats are getting better at it. Two decades ago when the Premier League started it was a rarity to see a player dive, even leading to players like Jurgen Klinsmann standing out as a “Diver”, he was the exception not the rule. Fast forward 15 years and now there is barely a player in the top division who has not only dived but has also perfected the art. The rise to prominence of an apparent new rule stating that any contact made in a tackle is a penalty has not helped the cause. We now see players actually kicking an opponents leg and then buckling under the impact, which in my eyes should be a free kick the other way, but to referees and pundits alike this is a clear penalty because there was “contact”. However cheating is not the problem I will be discussing today (for that you can read The Beautiful Shame). I want to look at potential solutions to what I believe is a virus spreading throughout the game and spiraling out of control. Read the rest of this entry →