Diving ban is not tough enough
Iapplaud the Football Association for introducing retrospective bans for acts of simulation. Everton’s Oumar Niasse was last week found guilty by the panel and is now serving a two-match suspension.
What worries me, however, is that the FA has not gone far enough. It needs to look again at the issue.
At the moment, there are three scenarios in which retrospective action can be taken: where a referee is deceived by a dive and awards a penalty; where an alleged act leads to a straight red card for an opponent; where an alleged act leads to a dismissal of an opponent (where the alleged act led to the opponent receiving either one of the two cautions).
In those cases, the panel sits and all three members have to agree before a suspension is imposed.
This goes only some way to addressing the problem, as we are still seeing incidents where players are diving. West Ham’s Andre Ayew was clearly guilty of simulation in Friday’s match with Leicester when he attempted to win a penalty.
Martin Atkinson, the referee, was in a good position, was not deceived, and allowed play to continue. But while the referee got the decision correct, he failed in his responsibility to caution Ayew for an act of simulation.
In this type of situation, no action has been taken so the player gets away with it. That will not act as a deterrent to him or any other players in an era of footballers being prepared to go down easily.
The FA should look at all acts of simulation and put them before the review panel.
At the moment there is an inconsistency that needs reviewing. As an example, when a player receives a yellow card for simulation there is no suspension. It goes into the totting up procedure.
All acts of simulation are abhorrent, and are not wanted in the game. One week, a team will benefit, the following match they could be on the losing side.
If the FA and the senior leagues want to rid the game of acts that tarnish the image of the Premier and Football Leagues, they must act consistently.
That is why I am looking for a change.