So UEFA have banned Eduardo for two matches following his dive against Celtic a week and a bit ago. His offence was trying to take an advantage by deceiving the referee (http://www.uefa.com/uefa/keytopics/kind=512/newsid=881429.html).
I echo Arsene Wenger’s thoughts on this subject insomuch that UEFA have opened a can of worms with their decision (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/8223917.stm ). The questions I have for UEFA broadly focus around when will they take action; does it need to be a penalty, a foul or would faking an injury suffice (i.e. Blitc or Rivaldo)?
Does it need to be in the Champions League or will those in the Europa League get the same treatment – can you image UEFA taking action against a player from Cluj v Kobenhavn?
Whether a player has dived or not is a subjective interpretation. Does the dive need to be completely obvious or does mere exaggeration of a situation make the player suitable for a video investigation. Also, if the referee spots the dive but does not caution the player then he has not been punished – can UEFA then step in?
Some of these questions can, I’m sure, be answered by UEFA but we might not find the answer until more controversial situations present themselves.
How best then to eradicate diving in the beautiful game? The punishment imposed by UEFA needs to be sufficient to curb the behaviour but not excessive in comparison to the yellow card imposed if found guilty.
What I would do is give the player a retrospective yellow card, something UEFA have been shy to do. A retrospective yellow card would only be applicable for the offence of deceiving the referee – no need to open the floodgates.
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