Should simulation be upgraded to a red card? – Part 4

I would rather the question after the game be “Do you think he should have been sent off for the dive” Rather than “Do you think it should have been a penalty”. A penalty results in a direct attempt at goal and often is scored. Yes, going down to 10 men means that teams go down a man but that does not always result in them conceding. There have been plenty of cases where teams that have gone down a player, rallied to either hold on or score themselves and win.

My main point for raising this is because diving and simulation hurts the game. Especially in Australia. Maybe in some other countries it is an acceptable practice to try and win by any means necessary, however I do not feel that is the case here. Australian’s want to win that is no secret, but we want to win by simply being better than the other team, whether that’s working harder than them or by being more skillful. We do not want to win by compromising our integrity and bending the rules in order to obtain a result.

Diving and simulation are a reason for people to not play the sport in this country. Parents and individuals do not want their kids growing up learning how to bend the rules and in some peoples view cheat. I have heard footballers referred to as a bunch of divers and cheats numerous times. That is the image that some individuals have of football as a sport in this country. So, if we get rid of diving, then people cannot use that as an excuse to not like football. Now I am not dumb, and those people may find another excuse to not like the game. You can’t please everyone.