Football divers facing retrospective FA bans from next season
Written by News on 19/05/2017
Footballers who dive will face a two-match retrospective ban by the Football Association from the start of next season.
The new rules, passed by the governing body at its annual general meeting, are aimed at players who con officials into awarding penalties or sending off opponents either through a second yellow or straight red card.
An independent panel, consisting of one ex-player, a former manager and an ex-official, will review footage from the weekend each Monday looking for cases of simulation.
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Bans will only be imposed if the panel unanimously finds the player guilty of the new offence of ‘successful deception of a match official.’
As well as imposing a two-match ban on the guilty player, the FA can also overturn the red card issued to an opponent.
The FA said in a statement: "This process would be similar to the one used now for a red card offence which was not seen at the time by the match officials but caught on camera."
The FA says it will act "where there is clear and overwhelming evidence to suggest a match official has been deceived by an act of simulation, and as a direct result, the offending player’s team has been awarded a penalty and/or an opposing player has been dismissed."
The ban, which has been widely backed by managers, follows "a period of consultation with stakeholders over the past few months", and has been approved by the Premier League, the EFL and the Professional Footballers’ Association.
Similar bans have been in place in Scottish football since 2011.
Rangers winger Sone Aluko was the first player to be punished in December 2011 after winning a penalty against Dunfermline – one of two players punished in the first season.
The other, Aberdeen’s Peter Pawlett was banned again in May 2013 after winning a penalty that effectively consigned Dundee to relegation.
Three players have been punished this season, including Falkirk’s Myles Hippolyte, whose acrobatic fall against Dunfermline prompted the Fife club to highlight the video footage on social media.
The retrospective approach works both ways though and some players have had yellow cards for simulation overturned following an appeal.
(c) Sky News 2017: Football divers facing retrospective FA bans from next season
