‘Neymar dives too much’ – does Fifa need to do more to stop simulation

Real Madrid’s 3-1 win over Barcelona in the Clasico last Saturday created many talking points – and one of these was the conduct of Neymar.

The Brazilian forward opened the scoring, but was blasted after the game by ex-Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello for diving too much.

"Neymar is a great striker, but I hate that a player of his level has to fall to the ground every time you touch him,” Capello told Fox Sports Italy.

“He has a very annoying attitude.”

Capello’s comments have once again reignited the debate over simulation in football and whether more needs to be done to stamp it out of the game.

It is an issue that Fifa has not always taken too seriously, with president Sepp Blatter once stating: "I know myself, I was always a striker. If someone puts his foot there, what do you do? You do a little bit more than you should have done. Is this so terrible? I don't think so."

Two of Goal’s writers go head to head over the subject.

"DIVING IS CHEATING & MUST BE ERASED FROM FOOTBALL"

By Alec Fenn
The wheels on the carousel of diving and moral outrage are well worn and it’s time the game’s world governing body Fifa took a stand and erased it from the sport once and for all.
Put simply, diving is cheating. It’s a dishonest act that warrants the same punishment as a reckless tackle, volley of verbal abuse or any other intimidatory act.
Why? Because it goes against the game’s values – or what’s left of its moral code. It’s a conscious bid to gain an unfair advantage over an opponent and can often deny a paying audience a genuine and fair conclusion to a game.
Two of the game’s poster boys of simulation – Neymar and Gareth Bale – argue their theatrical histrionics are in fact a method of self preservation against aggressive opposition.
It’s nonsense and nothing more than a smokescreen in an attempt to maintain a polished profile. Society’s health and safety craze has seeped into football to the point where tackling has almost become a prohibited act.
Many academies now coach interception over the art of physical challenges in the fear of falling into the diving trap. This has in turn diluted the game’s competitive spirit and stripped football of one of its honest selling points. Attackers have never had it so good.
Written words and vocal outcries from coaches are not enough to win the battle against the cheats. While guilty players continue to be punished with a booking – in what is nothing more than a metaphorical slap on the wrists, the dishonest will prosper.
Change begins at the top. Fifa must implement sanctions – whether that comes by the way of sin-bins, red cards or hard-hitting retrospective action – that directly hurt the guilty individual and restore a sense of fair play. Then, and only then, will football stamp out diving for good.
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"NEYMAR IS ONLY ONE KICK AWAY FROM RETIRING "

By Carlo Garganese

Whether you like it or not, simulation is part of the game. Driving it into extinction is completely unfeasible.

To succeed, players must push the boundaries of fair play. Naivety doesn’t win trophies. When defending a corner, for example, a little bit of pushing and pulling is absolutely essential for both physical and tactical reasons. When forming a wall at a free-kick, edging forward a yard can be the difference between avoiding and conceding a goal.

Similarly, and no distinction should be made just because it is diving, there are scenarios where exaggerating or accentuating a fall is a necessary evil. "Play-acting? It's not play-acting, it's being smart,” Sergio Busquets once famously said.

An attacking player who is clearly fouled in the area will rarely be awarded a penalty unless he goes to ground. He would only be cheating his own team by staying on his feet.

There are many grey areas. Occasionally, a player will anticipate contact or be off balance going into a duel at high speed. Often a forward will dive as a pre-emptive measure to avoid a dangerous tackle that could cause serious injury.

How can an action that is often so hard to judge possibly be outlawed?

Just as with every other facet of the game - it is up to the referee to decide when the line has been crossed. Neymar does sometimes cross that line, but he is also one of the most brutally fouled players in the game – as his injury at the World Cup proved.

Put yourself in Neymar’s shoes where you are always one kick away from a career-ending foul. Modern football has already become too athletic – with power and pressing triumphing over skill and brains. Outlawing diving completely would only provide more oxygen to the talentless brutes.

There are more serious issues in the game right now that Fifa need to deal with. Diving should be regulated and nothing more.