Every weekend, on every pitch in the world, the same scenes are repeated endlessly; and no one knows – or wants – to radically put an end to it. It’s who can fool the referee the best by being the smartest. On the great stage of deception, all means are good, nothing is spared. This may be by faking a supposed foul inside the sixteen yards in hopes of winning a penalty. We recognize here the kings of diving, the aces of stunts and these are legion. Most often, in this specific case, the simulation is fortunately so crude that there is no need to resort to VAR to uncover the intention and unmask the cheater. But sometimes, the use of images (if they exist) makes it possible to reestablish the truth and avoid injustice…
To cite just one example, Sandro Lauper punished himself before the international break, indirectly contributing to Patrick Rahmen being fired in addition. After having thought he was deceiving the Basel – YB referee by crudely simulating a penalty which was finally canceled after having rewatched the scene of the supposed offense, the Wankdorf actor would then see red – for good this time – by making himself the author of a horrible tackle before the eyes of Mr. Cibelli.
Another category, much more amoral still, lists all the imaginary injured, rolling on the ground in phantom pain only to joyfully frolic as soon as the game resumes. Playing dead with the sole objective of wasting time, the trick is as old as time but still works, knowing that these multiple stoppages in play, also intended to break the rhythm, are rarely compensated for in added time. Curiously but very logically at the same time, there are fewer false “injured” people in the team chasing the score at the end of the game.
On the big scene of the rant also appear the specialists of gross exaggeration, bringing together all those who, barely touched by their counterpart in a contact, mime the knockout of the century with the twisted aim of having the person expelled. alleged attacker. These (in this case very bad…) actors are the gangrene of football that no one really knows how to get rid of. Yes, how can we fight against these losers, all these simulators which pollute the very essence of the game? The worst part, perhaps, is that we end up, tired of fighting, getting used to it, as the culprits have today adopted this type of behavior in their style of play – are they even still aware of fault when they seek to deceive their world? With the risk involved, in the event of a fault this time duly proven, that we no longer believe them.
The problem is all the more complex to address as it often comes from very far away, dating back to the first years of learning to play the ball. It is thus sometimes from juniors that the wrong course is taken, whether by mimicry (by reproducing what adults do) or by following some sad advice. These scenes multiply every weekend at the edge of the pitch, we all remember the image of a coach reprimanding one of his little juniors, supposedly guilty of not having let himself fall into the fateful rectangle – ” All you had to do was fall and it was a penalty, why did you stay standing?” And since it often starts very early…
Because deceiving, seeking to abuse, is already cheating, it is time to really punish all those – and sometimes those – who indulge in such unhealthy behavior. Many complain about such actions, but no one really does anything to stop them. It is not a vague yellow card (as long as it is issued by the referee) which can change much. Why not introduce a temporary expulsion system for all those who seek to cheat the referee? Sending all these shoddy actors to calm down at the side of the pitch for at least 10 minutes would undoubtedly help to eliminate these fake actions. Why not draw inspiration from what already exists in hockey?
Football needs real artists and real actors – not bad and too often pathetic “comedians” – to generate emotions, which amounts to whistling offside anyone seeking to free themselves from it to promote a comedy of art low floor.
Yes, we’re definitely fed up with all these simulations which never stop ruining the game and spoiling our fun!
