Vice president of the Federation of International Football Association (Fifa) Jim Boyce said he believes the practice of diving or pretending to fall into “cancer in the sport of football.”
Boyce’s statement is his reaction after watching video footage of Luis Suarez as Liverpool’s players fell to the ground in a match Liverpool against Stoke which ended goalless at Anfield today mingg.
“I’ve seen a few incidents and Suarez incidents, and for me it was nothing more than a fraudulent act,” he said.
“[Diving] into cancer in this sport. If it is very clear that it was a pretense, the perpetrators should be severely punished.”
Last September, Stoke manager Tony Pulis asked the Football Association (FA) to punish the players found guilty of diving to the suspension and played in three games last Sunday Pulis said Suarez should be punished it.
Boyce added that he also thought that the action was very important even if the incident was missed by the referee.
“The actions that can be dealt with retrospectively by disciplinary committees, and it is done in some associations, I believe that it is the right thing,” said Boyce.
“Sometimes it is very difficult for referees to judge whether something is cheating or fair and if the players do the diving, their task becomes more severe.”
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers defends Suarez.
“At the moment there seems to be a set of rules for Luis and another rule for everybody except him,” Rodgers said.
