Everyone hates diving but referees need to be braver to stamp it out of the game - Danny Higginbotham

LET ME get this clear from the outset: I hate diving. It’s horrible, ugly and ruins the game. It’s all wrong.

But... Bernardo Silva had no choice last weekend. Referees just don’t give penalties unless a player hits the deck. Now if there is no contact, there is no excuse for it and players who do that should be banned retrospectively.

But I’m talking about when contact is minimal and not enough to bring a player down — but if a foul HAS been made it should still be a penalty.

Manchester City midfielder Silva has had a fair bit of stick since he won that penalty against Burnley last Saturday.

And, yes, he went down theatrically, although he was caught by the keeper Nick Pope. And refs just never bring play back and award a spot-kick, like they would if the foul wasn’t in the box.

Philippe Coutinho was caught against Crystal Palace last season in the box, stayed on his feet, stumbled and got a shot away that was blocked. But that stumble was crucial. It allowed time for the defender to get in his way.

Once the shot had been blocked, the advantage was over and the ref should have brought play back and awarded a penalty. But, no! So what reward did Liverpool star Coutinho get? None.

Take West Brom striker Jay Rodriguez against Arsenal earlier this season.

He was upended by Shkodran Mustafi but bounced up as if he had not been fouled and got his shot away.

Petr Cech pushed it on to the post and the rebound was missed. At that point a penalty should have been given.

The delay in Rodriguez jumping back to his feet meant Cech could come out and narrow the angle.

So the attacking player, Rodriguez, lost his advantage. I don’t want to see players diving with minimal contact but refs must be braver and bring play back like they would outside the box.

I’ve seen referees play three or four second advantages when the foul is not in the box, then bring it back and give the free-kick when no advantage occurs.

Why the difference?

It encourages players to go down at the first hint of contact. It looks bad. It looks theatrical. But you can see why it happens.

Otherwise they are getting punished for their honesty.

From The Sun