LET’S NAIL THAT DIVER
From Back Page of simulation – crumpling in the box under no contact from Erik Sviatchenko – that conned ref Don Robertson to win a late penalty against the champions that secured a draw in Dingwall.
But Smith fully expects SFA compliance office Tony McGlennan to file a charge for this offence today.
He said: “It’s a clear-cut situation and he will be punished. It’s straightforward cheating.
“In the case of Schalk I heard his manager Jim McIntyre say his player was anticipating contact. That’s even worse in my opinion.
“It’s good the cameras have shown this up and it’s also good he’ll be punished.
“Players need to know if they’ve got away with it during the game they’ll be punished for cheating.
“I also believe that a two-game ban should be increased if it’s the same player.
“We were the first country in the world to introduce retrospective punishment.
“This was required at the highest level, it was a way to try and cut out cheating.”
The 62-year-old’s time in charge at the SFA ran from 2007 to 2010 and he insists he introduced the rule which was about punishing cheats as well as trying to help match officials who were the victims of on-field skullduggery.
Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers labelled referee Robertson “embarrassing” for failing to spot Schalk’s dive but Smith is adamant the finger of blame shouldn’t be aimed at the whistler.
He said: “The fact is the referee is being conned and that’s why we needed to bring the rule in.
“It’s a deception where the blame is all on the player and not the referee.
“The referee is looking at the incident and some may say it should be easy to see But it’s not always the case.
“On Sunday Robertson was conned by the player so this rule is also about protecting the referee.
“They are also the ones who are on the receiving end of this form of cheating.
“I’m not in agreement with the view held by some that a player is entitled to go down if there is any contact, that is bad enough.
“It should always be the case that a player only goes down because of the actual challenge.”
The first case of retrospective punishment saw former Rangers striker Kyle Lafferty hit with a three-game ban in 2009 for infamously throwing himself to the ground after simulating a butt from Celtic’s Charlie Mulgrew.
He said: “That was the first case after we brought in this rule and it shows that it’s not just about incidents which lead to penalty kicks.
“It’s only when players gain an advantage and that’s the key.
“If Schalk had gone down and hadn’t been awarded a penalty then there would be no need to punish him retrospectively.
“It would be down to the referee to book him.
“Diving is becoming a big part of the game, much more so than when I was a player and one of the ways to deal with it is to punish players retrospectively.”