Two-Faced Pundits Are Champions Of Cheating

Diving is a cancer eating away at the soul and moral compass of football.

Ex-pros who did it, or profited from teammates who did it, are brainwashing a gullible TV audience in particular, that cheating is ok. “You have the RIGHT” to go down.

The reasons are simple. Trophies and gongs now aren’t just given out for competitions won by a Giggs-esqe run at Villa Park, or Archie Gemmill v Holland in 1978, or Aguerooooo staying on his feet to win the title in 2011.

Cheat’s Charter
No, trophies are also given out to dressing rooms which pat each other on the back for going down late in a game to steal (for that’s what it is) a penalty, for dressing rooms where coaches and managers happily tell 18 year olds to go down when contact is felt, and where managers one week shriek with anger at a decision against them which the week before they were smuggly accepting as a gift from the cheating Gods.

It’s not good enough, and millions, yes millions are turning their backs on the game because of it.

To hear the absolute codswallop of some pundits, some of whom cheated others in full international matches, some of whom weren’t the greatest players so relied on the cheating of others to win them trophies and one or two who loved the “go down when you feel a touch” just before the cameras of the Premier League filled the grounds; to hear them pontificating as if their bastard interpretation of the rules is lore makes me sick and believe me there are plenty who are with me on this.

Even Mark Chapman on MOTD 2, a man who is there to ask industry professionals the questions, not to give answers himself, and has no discernible (to my knowledge) experience of how difficult it is to go down when touched, weighed into the Benteke affair with “ well of course he took his foot away”.

Really Mark? A 14 stone striker barely touched who was on his way down before he was breathed on, and who’s pained expression was that of a man impaled on a stake had his foot took away did he? Nothing like a sheep to join a studio full of punditry sheep protecting their own arses and rather skewed views on competing fairly and squarely!

Vague Rules
A good friend tweeted me last night with this absolute gem of a comment, which shows how the rule book, once adhered to by players, enforced by strong referees, is now a joke of a document enforced by yet more sheep who want a quiet life for the most part, the ref and refs’ assessors.

You used to be AWARDED a penalty, now you ‘win’ or ‘earn’ one as if playing an intentional role is somehow ok.

This for me gets straight to the point, and addresses the anger of long standing fans who see their kids watch an incident like Benteke yesterday and simply say “It’s a penalty.”

So let’s look at the rules. They do indeed say “attempt to trip, might trip, could trip” yada yada yada. Enough ambiguity to drive a bus full of cheats through, and that’s the problem, the cheats have gone into overdrive, leaving a leg in, actually happy to go down and forego the passage of play (which may get them a shot or goal by the way) to leave those beautiful, ambiguous words to do the rest of the job. ‘MIGHT HAVE, COULD HAVE, SLIGHT TOUCH, CONTACT” etc etc.

So let me remind you again of what the spirit of law was. AN AWARD. You were awarded it at the discretion of the referee, you have NO right to play an intentional role, you have NO right to leave a trailing leg out, you have NO right to force a cheats’ charter on every school kid who watches you, every fan who pays to watch you, every Dad who has to clear up the mess on a Sunday morning, you have NO right to cheat the opposition.

Honesty Is the Best Policy
Your ONLY right is to play the passage of play and let the referee award you a penalty in an environment of sporting honesty, integrity which would lead to better decision making by referees, who wouldn’t then have to second, third or fourth guess whether someone has left their leg in or not.

Perhaps that’s the kind of environment that will see better decisions, better play and to be frank better punditry, because a lot of the shower who indeed were great players many years ago are some of the worst advocates for fairness in the sport that I’ve ever seen or heard.

You are awarded a penalty, they aren’t won or earned, and it’s not ok to play an intentional role.

If I’m in a minority of one for wanting this scourge kicked out of the sport for every football fan, I’ll be more than happy to walk alone.