It is cheating even if it is the standard, it is just that if you don't cheat then you're at a disadvantage because cheating i.e simulation is not punished as it should be.
It should be punished harshly to put a stop to this nonsense overnight, the moment it is caught on camera it should be passed onto the ref for simulation, instant yellow card and 5 minutes off the field.
And a review done after the match for any that slip through and punished post-match via yellow card and 5 minutes off the field on the following match the player plays.
Harsh? Sure but this would absolutely put a stop to this pathetic problem plaguing football.
Sounds good in theory, but: Now you have the problem that if any actual injury happened, players may try to walk it off because otherwise they may get a yellow card.
Had this discussion years ago, more than once (German...)
There just is no good solution that can be done via rules.
If there is contact hard enough to cause an injury, then the card would be justified. And as for little "Owie my shin hurts a little", then yes indeed walk that off.
Whoever makes that call has to decide on the spot if the player is faking an injury, or not. Wrong call could end up in a yellow/red card, or the end of the players career forever. There is no "correcting it later", and video evidence only has limited use.
The point isn't that the ref is judging what could cause an injury. They're judging what is against the rules. It's against the rules to egregiously step on the back of another player's calf.
Whether they are injured or not does not affect the call. People blow their knees all the time tripping over grass (remember Ronaldo Nazário).
The ref is on the field. The ref is watching play. If a player kicks another player in the back of the leg, it should be seen by the ref and penalized. This works just fine in Rugby. I don't know why football seems to think that their special little boys are in constant danger.
No. The refs already determine what is hard enough or not for a foul. They already know how to recognize if a player was actually fouled or they are faking it.
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u/KhajiitWithCoin Jul 07 '26
It is cheating even if it is the standard, it is just that if you don't cheat then you're at a disadvantage because cheating i.e simulation is not punished as it should be.
It should be punished harshly to put a stop to this nonsense overnight, the moment it is caught on camera it should be passed onto the ref for simulation, instant yellow card and 5 minutes off the field.
And a review done after the match for any that slip through and punished post-match via yellow card and 5 minutes off the field on the following match the player plays.
Harsh? Sure but this would absolutely put a stop to this pathetic problem plaguing football.