The Cheating Advantage at the World Cup
In need of acting lessons? Watch a game in the 2010 World Cup.
For years soccer has been haunted by the reality of diving, or simulations, in which players attempt to deceive referees by faking injuries or contact to gain match advantage. One such example this year was when Ivory Coast player Keita went down against Kaka, grabbing his face and throwing himself to the ground, when in fact Kaka hardly touched him. The consequence of this pretence was a second yellow card for Kaka, who was ejected from the match.
If diving wasn’t bad enough, soccer lends itself to other types of cheating that allows for unfair advantage. Not only that, it allows for winning. The fullest example of this occurred this weekend, in Uruguay’s penalty shot win over Ghana. At the end of stoppage time, Ghana had a chance to score and kicked a ball that passed the goalkeeper. But Luis Suarez of Uruguay used his hand to stop the shot, then comfortably accepted the accusations of a handball. The result was a failed penalty kick by Asamoah Gyan, and ultimately the elimination of Ghana from the tournament. For their honesty, Ghana only got to go home.
After winning, the Uruguayans showed themselves almost completely clueless to the requirements of decency. Instead of leaving the field with their heads down, the celebrated and carried Suarez off on their shoulders. The King of cheaters.
A day later, Suarez bragged: “The Hand of God now belongs to me. I made the best save of the tournament.”
When the ethics of sports are turned upside down in the name of victory, there is a problem. Many have noted as much and asked for harder penalization of simulation from FIFA, who seem complicit about the acts.
It is true that FIFA decided to ban Suarez for one match in response to the act, but to many fans this seemed an unjust punishment.
In response to the Suarez case, former Uruguayan international Gus Poyet tied himself into illogical knots trying to account for the unaccountable.
“I was a little bit disappointed with some people talking about cheating. I think that is absolute rubbish. That is taking one for the team,” Poyet told BBC. “I think you call it cheating when you try and score a goal with the hand, to take advantage when the referee cannot see that. Everybody saw that. The referee saw that. He gave the red card to (Suarez). (Gyan) had the chance to score the penalty and didn’t. We are missing something really important. When you are naïve, you don’t win football games.”
In the form of the usual ‘if the ends justify the means’ argument, Poyet ends up saying something very accurate and shameful about modern football. Cheating is a calculus in which it is generally rewarded. Naïve, honest teams don’t prosper here.
For the reality of these theories, FIFA has taken a load of criticism for failing to properly discern cheating. And yet, the Fair Play Code of Football ruling body states: “Winning is without value if victory has been achieved unfairly or dishonestly.”
Likewise, FIFA has attempted, at least on a formal level, to prevent cheating by instituting regulations against simulation. The game’s rules state that: “Any simulating action anywhere on the field, which is intended to deceive the referee, must be sanctioned as unsporting behaviour," which is misconduct punishable by a yellow card.
The rule changed in response to an increasing trend of diving and simulation; and yet, they continue to be misused, or not used at all, in the cases that count. The way that things are going, don’t hold your breath for any real advancement on these questions.
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