With eight games still to play, this World Cup has already seen a record number of red cards, with 25 players given their marching orders, compared to 22 in France eight years ago. Much has been made of the poor refereeing which has led to this rash of dismissals. Undoubtedly some officials have performed ineptly - not least Three Yellows Poll and Valentin Ivanov who reduced Potrugal-Holland to a nine-a-side.
But to focus entirely on refereeing mistakes misses the point that the players themselves must shoulder some of the blame for the spate of red cards at this World Cup. As a neutral observer it is a tragedy to see finely-balanced games like Tunisia-Ukraine and Italy-Australia being decided by a piece of amateur dramatics in the penalty area.
This is not to say that referees have been blameless - far from it - but rather that the blame must be shared. Taking the most controversial game of the tournament so far, Portugal-Holland, some of Ivanov’s decisions were bizarre, especially his decision to book Deco for time-wasting while ignoring the fact that Cocu hurled the Barca midfielder to the floor in the same incident.
But let’s remember that it was Boulahrouz, not the referee, who implanted his studs on Ronaldo’s thigh; Figo, not the referee, who head-butted Van Bommel; Costinha, not the referee, who threw his arm up at the ball when already booked. Most of all, it was the players (led by the contemptible Robben), and not the referee, who fell to the floor at the merest hint of contact. The game was reduced to a farce, not just by the weakness of the referee but also by the players’ determination to exploit this weakness for their benefit.
Diving is the single worst disease afflicting football today since it undermines the whole basis of the game. The team with the better players is supposed to win, not the one with the more shameless actors. Close behind in the infamy stakes is the now common practice of fouled players reaching for imaginary cards to try to get opponents sent off. Such blatant gamesmanship has no place on a football pitch.
But FIFA seem more concerned with curtailing the physical side of the game. Prior to this tournament, football’s world governing body issued an edict to referees that shirt-pulling should receive a straight yellow regardless of context. Thus we had the farcical situation where Teddy Lucic was given a second yellow in the Germany-Sweden game for the lightest of shirt-pulls in the middle of the field. The aggrieved party, Torsten Frings of course pointed out to the referee that a booking was in order. Thus, with Sweden already two goals to the bad, the game was effectively over because Lucic had committed the mildest of offences, warranting nothing more than a free-kick.
Perhaps by cutting out the physical side of the game, FIFA think they are helping football by encouraging attacking play. They are not.
Most of us who love football love it because it is a physical game. A good tackle can be just as beautiful as a good pass. A tackle-free game full of diving is not what most fans want. But it is what we are going to get if FIFA keep coming down hard on honest mistakes and ignoring cynical cheating.
Instead, I would suggest these following refereeing guidelines:
1. I’m a bit of a fundamentalist when it comes to diving so I would like to see offenders issued with red cards and then summarily executed. However, I have been informed that this doesn’t comply with human rights legislation so instead, divers should be forced to play the rest of the match in flippers.
2. Shoulder-charging is never a foul. Any player who thinks it is should be told to get up and get on with the game.
3. Any tackle which gets the ball first is not a foul (unless both feet are in the air).
4. If a player appeals for a booking, the ref should book that player and reverse the free-kick.
Any more suggestions?