All footballers try to get one over on the opposition. Appealing a throw-in is second nature now and rarely does the ball go out without a player raising a hand.
How far should a player go to gain an advantage? Did Josh Morris cross the line when he kept Plymotuh’s clearance in on the last Saturday of the season to score for Scunthorpe? He was condemned for that, but what about feigning injury?
We’re not talking about making the most of a tackle, we’re talking about making out something has happened that simply hasn’t, That was the case this weekend as Ryan Sweeny received his marching orders for Mansfield against Exeter City.
John Dempster, the Stags boss, is raging with Ryan Bowman, the player allegedly the victim in the incident.
“Looking back at the footage, the officials on Saturday will feel disappointed and conned and the player involved – I don’t know him personally – will look back at that and feel embarrassed,” he told the Mansfield Chad.
“Exeter are a club that are run efficiently, but I think the manager will be hoping there were not many academy players watching the game because that’s something you don’t want to see young players looking at and copying. It’s not for me – faking injury like that and rolling around on the floor. For me it’s embarrassing.”
Dempster is spot on. The video of the incident shows nothing more than a bit of nudging each other, before the striker goes does as though he’s been the victim of a sniper attack. Sweeney looks perplexed, even more so when the referee pulls out a red card.
Exeter won the game 1-0 to take thier place at the top of the table.
What can the EFL or FA do about this sort of thing? It’s not just a bit of gamesmanship, it’s not looking for a marginal gain, it’s cheating. It’s conning the ref, it’s robbing supporters of a fair contest and it needs to be stamped out.
The very worst thing that could happen is the appeal fails because with such clear footage of the incident the FA would be a laughing stock. If they back the official, they’re only tempting other players to feign injury and gain an unfair advantage.
What should happen is Sweeney is cleared, Bowman is charged and the punishment is a one-point deduction. That would act as a deterrent to players in the future and, if it happens again, anywhere, the same punishment should apply.
Diving, simulation, cheating, whatever you want to call it, we need to see it come to an end. Mansfield have been hard done by here, it may have cost them a point. That point can be crucial by the end of the season.
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