It seems that diving has been in the news recently with several high-profiled incidents in Premier League games. Simulation as it is often referred tends to be used by certain in order to win free kicks and penalties. Initially, it seemed to be something that entered our game due to the influx of foreign players. I think most of us would agree though that there are now an increasing number of players that look to use simulation and its certainly true to say that British players are not innocent of this. A lot of pundits and fans alike would prefer for diving to be significantly reduced as it is seen as cheating by many people. Players have got very clever at the ways in which they do it to ensure that referees struggle to tell the difference between a legitimate foul and simulation. However, when it is identified the punishments are not severe enough. Currently, diving can receive a yellow card but its very rare for a player to be sent off for two offences in a game. In fact, in my opinion, players have been known to win a penalty through simulation even though they were previously booked for diving. The price of success in the EPL means that players will likely continue to use these tactic, unless we can come up with some reasonable deterrents to stop them doing so. That is very much the subject of this slideshow as I look into some possible options
James Kent is a freelance writer published on Yahoo! Sports, Bleacher Report, FTBpro, Bloomberg Sports and many others. He has also been featured in the Daily Telegraph, Zoo Magazine, MSN Sport and the Manchester Evening News.
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