Diving bans next season?

tHe Fa are exploring ways to stamp out diving by bringing in new rules in time for next season. the issue has been in the news again in the past few days with Manchester United’s Marcus rashford and Manchester City’s Leroy Sane accused of simulation in order to win penalties. then on Monday night, Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva was booked for an embarrassing dive trying to win a spot-kick at Watford. the Fa want to rid the game of this form of cheating and are discussing the best preventative measures. West Bromwich albion manager tony Pulis and Burnley’s Sean Dyche are among several Premier League bosses who have urged retrospective action to eradicate diving from the english game. an Fa delegation went to Scotland earlier this year to meet Scottish Fa officials to discuss how effective the review panel system has been over the border. In Scotland the authorities take retrospective action against divers and hit them with two-match bans. the SFa have had the rule since 2011 and feel it has helped tackle the problem. Last month, ross County’s alex Schalk was banned retrospectively for a blatant dive that won his side a late penalty against Celtic. any rule change will have to be ratified by the game’s stakeholders — including the Fa, Premier League and Football League — during the summer before being confirmed by the Fa Council. the Fa avoid changing rules during the season but if an agreement is reached before august it could be in place for the 2017-18 campaign. the Fa have also looked at other examples from abroad. In Italy yesterday roma midfielder Kevin Strootman was banned for two games for diving during a 3-1 derby defeat by Lazio. the Dutchman was given the punishment retrospectively after replays showed he went down despite not being touched by a Lazio player.