Eduardo’s two-match ban for diving: fair or unfair?

Ollie Irish

1st, September 2009

35 Comments

As you’d expect, Arsene Wenger is furiously angry about this ban (this translates as “disappointed” with the verdict), which he sees as further evidence of a witch hunt against his team.

I see Wenger’s point, I really do. Uefa’s panel took less than an hour to come to a judgment on Eduardo’s case, surely not enough time to fully absorb the contents of a 19-page defence dossier that Arsenal had prepared in their player’s defence.

Still, dossier or no dossier, the video evidence is damning. So…

Did Eduardo dive? Yes.
Do other players dive? Yes, all the time, without punishment.
Have Uefa made an example of Eduardo? Yes, without any question.

But is the verdict actually unfair? Well, I think a one-match ban would have been about right, but it’s the lack of consistency that must be extremely frustrating to Wenger. If you’re going to punish Eduardo, then make sure you’re equally as vigilant when a striker from Serie A or La Liga, for example, does the same in a Champions League match this season.

I’ll be watching Uefa closely – but not as closely, I suspect, as most Arsenal fans.

What do you make of the ban? Fair or unfair? Leave a comment or simply vote below:

Posted in Arsenal, Champions League, Featured, Horror Hair

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35 Comments

  1. Alex Smith says:

    It is totally fair, at the end of the day, he cheated.
    Had he not cheated, he wouldn’t have been banned. End of story.
    As far as him being victimised, again, if he hadn’t cheated, he wouldn’t have been victimised.
    Someone had to be the first to be pulled up on this kind of behaviour on the pitch, and it happened to be him. Hopefully this will cause other charlatans to think twice when they go down like a ton of bricks.

  2. joebhoy says:

    He got what he deserved; The knowing smile when he got the decision was damming enough. My point of view may be dismissed as partisan because i am a celtic supporter but that decision effectivly killed off any chance of a fightback. I’m sure his £50k a week will help ease his burden.

  3. mhark67 says:

    he deserved it , in fairness many others deserve the same…. its a blight on the game, doesnt help EDUARDO that your main defence advocate is Arsene “i deed not seeee eet” Venger….no one belives a word out of that mans mouth when it comes to subjects such as this

  4. John McNeil says:

    Eduardo should have been banned for about five games to teach him a lesson and then I am sure that he wouldn’t dive deliberately again. I have to laugh about all of the so called experts and ex players based in England who say that he was unfairly treated because other players get away with it. Surely the only way to stop obvious deliberate diving cheats is to hammer them with five match bans (no matter who or how important the player is)and that would soon stop it.

  5. Pat van den Hauuwe says:

    I feel that the lad is a little unlucky. MANY have done the same previously, Cristiano Ronaldo was the best of all before SAF told him to pull his head in and stay upright.
    There has been a precedent set, it is only going to be fair to the lad if the precedent is followed consistently, and if it encourages players not to simulate.
    pvdh

  6. Michael says:

    The amount of whining and bitching coming from Arsenal is becoming really annoying. Just suck it up and get on with it, ladies!
    Less than an hour to convict him? Two minutes was all it would have taken to decide that he was a smirking cheat.
    And what’s with the 19 page dossier? 19 pages to cover a 2 second incident? Did they really think that UEFA were going to read 19 pages of bullshit rather than believe the evidence of their own eyes?
    Arsene and co should have spent their time better, maybe studying how to defend against Man Utd rather than compiling the defence of a diver? (and Rooney’s was a stonewaller btw).

  7. Kipp says:

    Ashley Young dived on the night after, not a word said, aiden mcgeady dived at the weekend and was booked. so was eboue.
    So why does a bookable offence become a two-game ban.
    Oh and Eduardo is not the first, UEFA punished a diver back in 2006 for diving. He got a two-game ban then too, that really curb it? did it?

  8. Dave Allison says:

    I agree with what Alex said. And the focus should now be on the future. UEFA now have a responsibility to punish all future incidents, and WITHOUT complaint from the opposition team. They’ve created themselves a hell of a lot of work. I only hope this is what happens as it can only improve the game. I just have my doubts…

  9. V says:

    Ridiculous.
    Two match ban for a yellow card offense; a decision which directly undermines the ref authority; green light to all the defenders everywhere to chop him up because the player is now officially labelled as cheat and it will always sway refs decisions against him. This is about teaching one particular player a lesson, but you know very well it will not be applied to all offenders, not even the majority of them, and ultimately it’s harmful for the game and for fair play, as well as players’ well being.
    A much more positive and constructive statement could’ve been made about this by the UEFA, they could’ve taken it as incentive to finally introduce changes that will be much more efficient, like extra officials and video technology.
    But no, this is about them throwing dust in the public eye, so it may appear like they’re doing something about it, when in fact they’re doing **** all, the status quo remains because it suits their private interests. Players will continue to cheat and get away with it, their offenses will continue to change the outcome of the match (unlike in this case), but the complacent public will be happy because an odd diver here and there will be put on the wall of shame, to make up for every 10 or 20 or 50 of them that go unpunished.
    You don’t have to be a fan of Arsenal, Eduardo or Wenger to see what’s wrong with this.

  10. danny smyth says:

    arsenal fan here. he dived and we weren’t happy about it and if it’s ban, then so be it. but it’s what happens now that causes the problems- ashley young dived the following night for a penalty in a european that actually could have changed the outcome of the tie- what happened to his ban? wayne rooney had already kicked the ball out of play and was half way to the ground before any contact with alumnia- i had no problem with the pen except that it would also show intent to con the ref-(he was gonna dive even if almunia hadn’t touched him)- and considering eduardo is being punished for ‘intent’, then does that mean rooneys intent should also be punished? and what about flecther’s tackle? even though we scored, does that not mean he was trying to con the ref by not saying that he had fouled arshavin???? and what about diaby????? was he not trying to con the ref by saying that he was an arsenal player??????
    by the way, the ref from the celtic game has actually viewed the video and said that it was still a pen.
    finally, how are bristol city gonna cope without their entire first team for two games?

  11. Anonymous says:

    Now let’s ban Rooney for two league games for his dive and ban Mike Dean from officiating in football or other any sport for that matter. Better yet let’s just ban him from entering the country on account of him being a smug, corrupt, cheating, Man Utd-supporting, bung-taking, bet-scandaling, weasel-faced, pigeon-chested, mandratory Old Trafford penalty-giving cunt.

  12. Kippax says:

    I think you should tell us what you really feel :)

  13. Kippax says:

    I think you should tell us what you really feel :)

  14. pat magroin says:

    still waiting on Mcgeady to get his 2 match ban .. Celtic FC – forever hypocritical

  15. West Ham Noise says:

    Manchester United are the most prestige club in euro. So much that there a victim of own success. Piss of arse and scouse there the daddys your all onlookers and closet supporters. From a West Ham Fan.

  16. c12hamilton says:

    I was there, it happened right in front of me, and yes it was a dive, but that keeper would have killed him had he not jumped and considering what happened to him 18 months ago can you blame him? either way it was a dive yes, but look at ronaldo and drogba almost every game they play, ronaldo supposedly the best player in the world, always on the floor, yeah he has skill but he also has a skill for simulation, then drogba, the biggest player in the league (size wise) and he goes down like a girl every chance he gets. how is it fair to give eduardo a 2 match ban for the first champions league game he has played in years, when these examples have gone years without any punishment at all???

  17. Michael says:

    V – bleating about ‘fair play’ in defence of a cheat, lol, gooners don’t do irony do they?

  18. kaya says:

    I didn’t realize Eduardo shaves (everywhere)
    He’s clearly being sacraficed for our sins, poor lamb. He’s even striking the Jesus pose in the pic.

  19. kaya says:

    Btw, I don’t think the comparison “goes down like a girl” is very apt. You hear it thrown around a lot and I can tell you, in the women’s sport, we don’t dive.

  20. chet says:

    it was absolutely a dive, and diving is cheating. no question. but either youre completely against it or youre a fucking hippocrite. but the real questions are why now? why eduardo? because the SFA have used it as a smokescreen to get away from the fact that one of the top scottish teams was easily handled over two games by a top 4 english team. pretty convenient, no? we’ve watched the likes of ronaldo and drogba and countless others dive for years now. i totally agree with uefa trying to put a stop to diving but a two game ban is surely too long. a yellow card turing into a two game ban? a one game ban should suffice.

  21. Anonymous says:

    how can anyone say this is fair? players are aware that diving is a yellow card offence, then miraculously normal procedure can be changed at will? same with any crime, you should recieve the same sentence that everyone else gets. Or your suggesting that Eduardo’s dive is much worse than the rest – and it wasn’t, if we’re honest. There wasn’t even any warning at the start of the season, with players bieng warned that diving would be clamped down on from now on. Talk about moving the goalposts.

  22. Muz says:

    In the current climate I think it’s wrong – no-one else gets banned for diving, so why should Eduardo? However, I’m hoping this is a watershed for football. For years FIFA and UEFA have been scared to back plans to introduce replays during games, and my personal opinion is that it’s because so many nations see cheating the referee as part of the game. But if they are now willing to punish someone for diving, it should open the floodgates for more decision like this, and eventually they are going to have to do something about it during the game rather than let a team win on a dubious decision and penalising them later. So perhaps we can get back to a game where skill rules and not that fact that a player is good at falling over so the star free-kick/penalty taker can step up and win the game.

  23. makluse says:

    Its unfair, if its going to be enforced across the board then fair enough, but UEFA have already said its not, its a one off case. Thats victinisation, which is unfair.

  24. Marina says:

    He did dive, like many others do but the truth is that Celtic and the SFA were looking for an excuse to hide the real facts that Celtic were not good enough to challenge Arsenal. How sad are the Celtic fans who really believe that the penalty really changed the game. You were totally thrashed!!
    Stop crying Celtic, you are not good enough to play against any premiership team. You should spend more time on building a decent squad instead of crying over the so called crucial penalty

  25. Marina says:

    He did dive, like many others do but the truth is that Celtic and the SFA were looking for an excuse to hide the real facts that Celtic were not good enough to challenge Arsenal. How sad are the Celtic fans who really believe that the penalty really changed the game. You were totally thrashed!!
    Stop crying Celtic, you are not good enough to play against any premiership team. You should spend more time on building a decent squad instead of crying over the so called crucial penalty

  26. Angus says:

    I am a Celtic fan. I agree with the comments from Marina. We do need to focus on our team. I feel sorry for the lad and I think that the SFA made a meal of the situation. He dived but look at the Serie A in Italy or the Liga in Spain.
    We are a very proud team. We do not need the help from UEFA and we shouldn’t of asked for it. We lost the game at home and the penalty wouldn’t of made any difference. We were just not good enough.

  27. Anonymous says:

    Unfair. When have Gerrard, Rooney, Ronaldo, or Drogba ever been banned for diving?

  28. Anonymous says:

    The only reason this has happened is because of the sorry state of Scottish football. No teams in the Champions League! I hope Rangers and Celtic are never in the Premier League because they would only ed up relegated!

  29. sam samuel says:

    britons don’t dive! migrants do dive! aliens like Rooooo descend from mars!!!!!!!!!!!

  30. Martin Killips says:

    I wholeheartedly agree with the words left by V. It isn’t about whether Eduardo dived or not. It isn’t about whether the punishment is apt – it is about UEFA punishing one player for a crime that hundreds (and historically, thousands) of players have committed. I am all for a five match ban for proven diving. But it has to be across the board, not occasionally in high profile matches. And if players can be banned post-game for misdemeanours unseen at the time by the referee – surely the referees should also be banned for blowing up for fouls that later prove not to be – especially if they have sent a player off unfairly.
    The truth is this decision is a knee-jerk reaction to complaints by whingeing Celtic players and the sheep-like mentality of the media who found something controversial to write about.

  31. Eduardo support says:

    It’s totally fair! He should have got banned for a year ore more, for life!!!!!!!!! In all fairness Rooney (just watch the England Vs Slovenia match), C.Ronaldo and other players do it all the time and nobody does anything… The only reason Eduardo got the ban is because the Scottish lobby is strong in UEFA (Celtic) and he’s not English or better yet he plays for Croatia (the Croatian win in Wembley still hurts doesn’t it). I just hope Croats win again and shut all English mouths once and for all! Whole of Europe is sick and tired of English arrogance. Go Croats! GO!!!!!

  32. Eduardo support says:

    It’s totally fair! He should have got banned for a year ore more, for life!!!!!!!!! In all fairness Rooney (just watch the England Vs Slovenia match), C.Ronaldo and other players do it all the time and nobody does anything… The only reason Eduardo got the ban is because the Scottish lobby is strong in UEFA (Celtic) and he’s not English or better yet he plays for Croatia (the Croatian win in Wembley still hurts doesn’t it). I just hope Croats win again and shut all English mouths once and for all! Whole of Europe is sick and tired of English arrogance. Go Croats! GO!!!!!

  33. Justice96 says:

    UEFA have made an example of Eduardo but he did cheat. Why do uefa look over all games and when they find a player guilty of trying to cheat the referee, book him after the match. Then, when a player is suspended through a accumulation of bookings, he will learn his lesson. There should also be no appeal system as UEFA don’t allow appeals for any other red card and therefore ban. How is this any different?

  34. machine goooner funk says:

    yea it was a dive. did he show intent? how in the fuck do you determine what’s in the mind of a player from a video clip? that part of it is ludicrous. uefa is being especially harsh in this case because the men who run uefa (that cunt platini) are furious over the english dominance in champions league play. yes barca won the title last season but on the whole the english teams dominate the tournament and it has the rulers of uefa doing what they can to hinder and disrupt the prowess of the english teams. look at their 5+6 plan as another example. all you manure and celtic cunts on here running your mouths can fuck off (your mothers all have herpes too)and you should mind what you say b/c your precious ronaldo is one of the biggest offenders and celtic are crying foul to distract the public from the fact they suck donkey dick and werent even ever close to being in that tie, the penno made no difference you were dominated and run off the pitch in each leg. further for the manure cunts you can all put your blinders on and ignore the pathetically blatant support you convieniently receive from the officials in any match that begins to get away from you but ask any fan of the premier league (aside from you band of mouthbreathers) and theyd agree wholeheartedly with me, your cunt team is the king of dubious calls and mysteriously lengthy stoppage times to bail out your team of assholes and miscreants (funny your team’s description matches how you’d classify the fanbase), kindly cunt off

  35. STFU he’s crap anyway if he needs to dive for u team to win that’s what hes going to do no silverware for years and as the song goes common sing it with me SAME OLD ARSENAL ALWAYS CHEATING

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