Suarez - hero or villain

[USER1999]

Cheating is cheating. I have no time for it, or for exponents of it. The rules are black and white. Cheating like this should carry a much more severe penalty than a one game ban. If it hit the player in the wage department, say 3 month ban for obvious cheating (Henry anyone?), then it would stop.
A golfer caught like this would have his career ruined.

 

[RGDave]

I feel the goal should have been given as a penalty (like some have said), but in this case, it was never a free kick in the first place....so where is the line drawn?
In the interests of fairness for this particular game, probably penalties was the right end. Ghana blew it.
Suarez, i.m.h.o. is a villain, but I can't see anyone doing anything else. In sports like Golf, you don't have a split-second decision to throw your arms in front of a ball, cheating or not.

As with balls that cross the line and don't count, balls that have been kept out or scored with a blatant handball or foul of some sort should allowed/disallowed with the help of a 4th official. No other decision should be tested using an extra official i.m.o. It's not rocket science and you'd probably average using it very rarely.

 

[sev112]

I understand the coninthian views here, but it wasn;t even a foul . if they open up teh investigation into a loniger ban, then perhaps they shoudl have red carded the Ghan a player who dived. You cant just pick one event and make an issue of it.

IN today's Germany game, Argentina blatantly delkiberately hand balled in eth first half. The ref decided to use his judgement and not book him. In teh second half the German leading goald scorer trie dto control teh ball wih his chest, and it hit more of his arm - he was yellow carded. He now misses the semi . Appalling pair of in consistent decisions.

Perhaps you shoudl also look at decisions like england's non-goal and several others.

I wanted Ghana to win. But you cant change teh application of the rules for one team just because we wanted them to win.

 

[HughJars]

but he'll be seen as a cheat by the rest of the world,

No he won't, it's a standard reaction in the situation he was in, even Alan Sheaer before today's game said he doubted there would be a single footballer ever who wouldn't have done what Suarez did.

 

[vig]

Football is in the gutter and Blatter is the biggest culprit.

The whole sport needs cleaning up. Diving, feigning injury, shirt pulling, imaginary card waving, fould language, lack of respect for officials, officials that are not fir to officiate............

Having said that, I would have done the same in his position.
In this instance he will be ecstatic with a one game ban. His country are through.
Is it wrong? absolutely

 

[Golfmmad]

I was really disappointed that Ghana were cheated out of a place in the semi-finals. Suarez is an out and out cheat!
As far as the comment that all players would do the same, I don't think so. I've watched many games in the Premiership where defenders try everything to stop the ball going in the net, but rarely see them handball.

There are many things that are wrong in todays modern game, and I for one would much rather see a team win fair and square - like Holland v Brazil or Germany v Argentina have done today.

Golfmmad.

 

[daymond]

A penalty goal is awarded in hockey if a player deliberately stops a ball with the foot or similar infringement.
If it works for hockey and rugby it should for football I cannot see the difference. It eliminates the issue of cheating.

 

[Owen_Thomas_14]

Why is everyone worried about it anyway?? Its a game and either way none of the two teams are going to win

 

[Iaing]

Wow!!
Footballer in cheating shock!!
Pick me off the floor someone!!

 

[John_Findlay]

This incident just shows how low footballers have sunk to win.

Even the BBC panel of Linekar and Shearer agreed they would have done what Suarez did. I guess that just shows that they're cheats to the core by nature as well. It's all about the result not how the game is played for them.

The rules on this sort of thing should be changed. In rugby they can award a penalty try. In football in these circumstances the ref should be allowed to award a goal rather than a penalty.

Suarez is undoubtedly a villain. He already was. He has dived his way through the tournament already when no-one was near him to try to get free kicks etc. These lot have no shame (footballers in general).

Wonder what these lot get up to in the golf course. I'm guessing a few leather wedges are involved each round.

 

[viscount17]

FIFA (or was it EUFA) tried the fifth and sixth officials but that hasn't been terribly successful - I don't think they knew where they should be or what they should be doing. How many officials would you need to stop (won't happen) or even curb the amount of cheating that goes on unpunished (and some of that would merit the sin bin in rugby)?

There could, and should, be different classes of red. Offences like Suarez handball (because it was on the line and clearly stopped a goal - and the penalty goal is a good idea, though Gyan should have done a better job) and dangerous play (you can probably think of others) should be tournament bans.
Those that occur as a result of two yellows should be kept as is at one match.

Unfortunately this requires something football patently does not have - consistency in applying rules on and off the pitch. Not least because yellows are too frequently given where a straight red is called for.

 

[BrianDamage]

Also. I dont think any player can really complain about cheating any more. Each and every one of them tries to claim every throw in, corner, foul.....not even just the controversial dive. they are trying to cheat the ref for throw-ins these days!

Exactly. You can't pull up just one incident of cheating in a match when every player has been at it for the entire 90 minutes. Makes me laugh everyone brings up Maradona. Rarely does Gary Linekers two dives against Cameroon in Italia 90 get brought up.

Football is a cheats game which cannot be compared to golf.

 

[chrisd]

Wonder what these lot get up to in the golf course. I'm guessing a few leather wedges are involved each round.

All the footballers that I played with who also dived, handled the ball, fouled and clsimed that the ball was over the goal line when it had barely passed the penalty spot all do the same now that they play golf - they play absolutely fairly and honestly. The fact is that footballers, by and large, all played football by the same "rule" - It's the referee who decides, and, if I handled it, give away a corner etc etc it's up to the referee to decide and whether I like it or not, his is the sole decision maker. Golf requires us all to be our own referee and I havn't met an ex footballer who I have ever had the slightest doubt about on the golf course - you see, footballers dont see handling the ball on the line as cheating, the rules cover the situation and the referee deal with it accordingly.Football is not rugby or cricket or any other game and lets be fair, rugby players gouge and cricketers rarely walk when the snick the ball these days - cheating mmmmm ?

Chris

 

[John_Findlay]

It's clearly a different mindset, Chris, but at the end of the day they're cheats. The dictionary definition is " to act dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage" Just because the sanction isn't severe enough doesn't absolve them.

In golf the ultimate sanction is disqualification. Perhaps if they changed the ultimate sanction in football to loss of the game then their attitudes would change. I dare say it won't until that is workable, though.

 

[chrisd]

It's clearly a different mindset

That is really all that I have been saying, every sport has its parameters. Cheating in golf is an absolute no no where as footballers don't see it as cheating (dictionary definition or not)and ultmately ones enjoyment of the sport is a personal view. I will bet there isnt a single defender from any team in the world cup who wouldnt admit that he would have done the same thing, cicumstances permitting.

I personally thought he could have headed it away but it was a slit second reaction

I would also state that I do not in anyway condone cheating and abhor any golfer who does.

Chris

 

[HughJars]

Wonder what these lot get up to in the golf course. I'm guessing a few leather wedges are involved each round.

As chris has so clearly pointed out already, the games are different, and the etiquette involved is different.

I'd actually put sportsmen (footballers or other) at the foot of any potential golf cheat scale, at the top are high flying businessmen who can't handle not being able to control everything in golf like they do in the 9-5. They are the ones I've had to watch like a hawk in the past as they're the most likely to try to do whatever it takes to succeed.