Its
finally happened and it took far too long, but a football club is
ready to be accountable for the actions of its own players and,
unsurprisingly, its not a Premiership side.
League Two Torquay United are set to introduce disciplinary rules
for its own players regarding diving, cheating and the stuff that
many supporters are beginning to accept as part of the game.
Under Torquays new rules, any player found guilty of attempting to
gain advantage by foul means will get a disciplinary letter and
caution.
A second offence will result in a player receiving a final warning
and the maximum fine stipulated by the FA.
Anyone found guilty of crossing the line a third time will be
placed on the transfer list or sacked for gross breach of
conduct.
The club will look at any video evidence received up to five days
after the alleged incident.
A statement reads: No longer will a
Torquay United Player be told You should have gone down.
It is the responsibility of our Players to stay on their feet and
try to score goals. Indeed we believe that this will take the
pressure off the Players who very often find themselves unsure
whether to try and score, or go to ground, when
challenged.
Bravo! To hammer the point home club chairman
Chris Roberts said of the The Torquay Initiative,
If Torquay United can afford to take this stance, then any club,
Amateur or Professional can follow our lead.
Two wrongs do not make a right. Clubs should not use the excuse
that they are waiting for other Clubs to follow suit. It is the
responsibility of each Professional Football Club to clean up its
own house and take full responsibility for the conduct of its
Players on the pitch.
British Football has the opportunity to take a lead in resolving
this major issue which is tarnishing our Sport and marred the World
Cup Finals in Germany 2006.
Great news and a real sucker punch to all those clubs who bang on
about how the high stakes of Premiership matches means that clubs
can not afford to punish key players for earning them an advantage.
Of course, itll be interesting to see what the actual impact ends
up being. Diving can be very subjective, some deem that contact
has to be made for something to be a foul - but if someone tries to
take your head off and you duck, how can that not be? Certainly
even with video review no case is going to be black and
white.
Torquay is a baby step, but the Premiership may need Arsenal,
Liverpool, Manchester United, or Chelsea to introduce such measures
before they become commonplace. British leagues tend to be the
least accepting of playacting as a form of football tactics, so
its hard to imagine than any supporter would be against such a
revolution.
Should it happen, anyone want to take a guess as to which clubs may
find themselves slipping down the table?
