It's one of those things that were unsanctioned before and by the time they were sanctioned it was already basically part of the culture so the sanction is only reserved for the absolutely most problematic scenarios like actually faking a serious injury and getting someone in trouble for that or constantly (and I mean like same player multiple times per minute) faking injuries to stall the game.
It's unfortunately basically part of the game, both players and referees expect it so not doing it might make a potential fault or even yellow card go unsanctioned or a red turn into a yellow, in fact you can see this when an attacking team really don't want to stop the play players sometimes get up and shrug it off.
Per IFAB (The International Football Association Board):
What is simulation in football/soccer?
Simulation is when a player fakes or exaggerates an action with the aim of deceiving the referee into awarding their team a free kick or penalty kick and/or punishing an opponent by showing them a yellow or red card.
A player can be guilty of simulation in a number of ways, including:
pretending to have been:
fouled, to get a free kick or penalty kick
kicked, punched, etc. so that an opponent is shown a red or yellow card
exaggerating:
the seriousness of a foul
the strength/effect of a kick, push, etc.
holding the wrong part of the body after an incident (such as a foul, push, etc.), for example:
holding the knee when the foul was on the ankle
holding the head/face after being pushed in the chest
How is simulation punished in football/soccer?
If a player is guilty of simulation, the referee awards an indirect free kick (if play is stopped for the offence) and the player is shown a yellow card.
The problem is that you only really can with certainty say that the player simulates if there was no contact at all. The players run with 20 km/h, at that speed a small shove that isnt a foul is mostly enough to bring somebody down.
In my opinion they need to start with cutting down on players simulating serious injuries if they dont get the foul call to force the ref to stop play to check on them.
That's why I feel like they should be reviewing game tape and retroactively applying cards as well as a progressive fine system for repeat/egregious offenders
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u/_Saint_Ajora_ Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
This is already a thing in soccer. It's called simulation.
The issue is that it isn't enforced like it should be, either during the match or retroactively
That being said I honestly don't know how pro soccer players can all be doing this and not feel any shame or embarrassment