CHRIS SUTTON has spoken out about the need for harsher punishment when a player is caught diving.
After watching Spurs get a very innocuous penalty at the weekend against former Celtic star Virgil van Dijk, the BT Sports pundit expressed his frustration with where the game is going.
“It is getting to the stage now where contact equals foul, and that is not right.
“There has to be sufficient force to warrant a player going to ground. If not, it is diving.
“The punishment of a retrospective three-match ban or a fine must be applied across the board for all cases of proven diving, whether seen by the referee or not. Throw the book at them, especially if it happens for a third time, as is the case with Dele Alli.”
It’s a hard one to monitor but this is something that can certainly be put in to the laws of the game retroactively. Sometimes when a player is booked for diving, it’s easy to go to the footage afterwards and see if the referee was right to do so – if he was then a three-match ban would send a message,
