Buzzin Football

Arsenal striker Eduardo should receive a UEFA two match ban after diving to win a penalty in the Champions League play off with Celtic at the Emirates last night. That is the view of  Gordon Smith chief executive of the Scottish Football Association (SFA)  and one that is also shared, oddly enough by the Celtic players and fans.

The incident occurred half way through the first half of the game when there appeared to be no contact between Eduardo and the Celtic keeper Artur Boruc, but the referee gave a penalty which the Arsenal player converted.

Even Arsene Wenger saw the incident as dubious, he said after the game; “I do not go as far to say Eduardo dived.  He went down, for what reason I do not know.  Having seen it again on television, it doesn’t look a penalty.  I do not think he (Eduardo) would have complained if the penalty was not given.”

While Celtic can argue that the penalty gave Arsenal an unfair advantage, the Gunners already had a two goal advantage from the first leg and it appeared unlikely that Celtic would have clawed their way back into the tie.

Nonetheless it is something that needs to be addressed in football today, I believe that many players have made an effort to curtail their diving activities over the past season and it is sad to see a young player as gifted as Eduardo cheating the referee and opposition.

Gordon Smith has called upon UEFA to stop paying lip service and actually make an example of the Arsenal player by giving him a retrospective punishment of a two game ban.The  SFA chief executive said:

“Eduardo showed disrespect to the game by his actions in winning a penalty against Celtic. We have shown the courage to use retrospective punishment when it comes to simulation and I would urge UEFA to do so in this instance. Everything that can be done to stamp it out must be done. Starting right now.”

“Everyone in football has a responsibility to set the right example to our youngsters. We can talk all we want about Fair Play campaigns, but taking action would be a much more powerful deterrent and would send the right message to players everywhere.”