Monday, December 04, 2006

Time FA did something....

I watched the match between Manchester United and Middlesbrough on Saturday. As a Man Utd fan, I am happy that the win took us 6 points of Chelsea. But the manner in which the first goal was scored left a bitter taste in the mouth.
Initially, I thought that there was contact, but replays showed clearly that there was no contact and the only reason I can think of Ronaldo diving is that he had lost the ball and thus the chance to score the goal. So he dived, ManU got a penalty and the rest is history. I for one thought that the boos he got were deserved. And to follow this, he dived again to get a free kick.
Now comes my question? How can the FA stop this? It has become imperative in light of the recent happenings where players from the top clubs resort to such tactics to get penalties, free kicks or get opponents sent off. And in my opinion, such behaviour from clubs like ManU, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool send a signal to the other teams that "this is the way to win" . So more and more teams will do so, thus reducing the game to a farce.
Some suggestions so that the FA reduces this:
1. Have a match referee who can annul goals or cards after the match. This referee should disallow a goal scored to a penalty or a free kick got from a dive. Similarly cards, given if any should be rescinded.
2. The player should be warned once, and for the next occassion, given a yellow card. For subsequent offences, the player should be banned from a couple of games. The only catch is that this should be done consistently to avoid charges of bias.
3. The club should be fined for repeated occurences. If they can be fined for the conduct of their fans, surely they can be fined for the conduct of their players too.
4. The club should be penalised by deducting a certain number of points for such behaviour. This may be harsh but putting pressure on the clubs is the only way to have any effect on the game.

I just hope that I do not get to see a match where the winning goal was scored by cheating.

-Winz

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