All About Diving

dive

\ ˈdīv \

intransitive verb

to plunge head first into water.
‍
an attempt by a player to gain an unfair advantage by falling to the ground and possibly feigning an injury, to give the impression that a foul has been committed. Dives are often used to exaggerate the amount of contact present in a challenge. […] Players do this so they can receive free kicks or penalty kicks, which can provide scoring opportunities, or so the opposing player receives a yellow or red card, giving their own team an advantage.

- Wikipedia

How to recognise a dive

Five behaviours can be used to identify deceptive intent in players:‍

1. Lack of Temporal Contiguity

There is a time lag between the impact and its apparent effect on the tackled player.

2. Lack of Ballistic Continuity

The tackled player moves farther or in a different direction than expected from the momentum of the tackle.

3. Lack of Contact Consistency

The tackled player nurses a body part other than where the impact occurred.

4. The ‘Archer’s Bow’ Pose

The tackled player falls in a posture resembling a drawn bow, counter to normal reflex mechanisms to protect the body in a fall.

5. Fall with no Contact

The challenged player falls to the ground before any impact occurs.

Based on a 2009 study by Paul H. Morris & David Lewis from University of Portsmouth, UK: Tackling Diving: The Perception of Deceptive Intentions in Association Football (Soccer)

Interested in the Diving Report?
Here's what you will find...

Laws of the game

Law 12: Fouls and Misconduct

Section 3: Disciplinary action

Subsection: Cautions for Unsporting Behaviour

There are different circumstances when a player must be cautioned for unsporting behaviour including if a player:

1. attempts to deceive the referee e.g. by feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled (simulation)

Glossary

Simulation:

An action which creates a wrong/false impression that something has occurred when it has not (see also deceive); committed by a player to gain an unfair advantage.

Deceive:

Act to mislead/trick the referee into giving an incorrect decision/disciplinarysanction which benefits the deceiver and/or their team.

Extract from Laws of the Game by the International Football Association Board (IFAB)

Help us change the game

Let’s make football an example of honour and honesty for the generations to come. Here’s what you can do:

to your favourite players through social media and ask them to #StopDiving

all signs of honesty on the field.

with your friends:

addressed to all the professional players in the world.

if you want to collaborate with us.

Demonstrate honesty and integrity every time you play

The ideas and opinions expressed in the report and on this website are those of the authors only and do not represent those of any company or organisation.
Data and insights should be taken as directional rather than exact. The report doesn't claim to have statistical significance in categorising players behaviour over time. It's only a representation of a measurement model applied to the 2 tournaments tracked.
All company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

Design by Veronica Maruri

Download The Report