Fair play?

I’ve been chewing on this for a while, but seeing what Di Natale pulled yesterday was the final straw that forced me to start this thread. This whole fair-play "rule" about blowing the whistle just because a player is lying on the grass... the concept might sound noble on paper, but in practice, it’s being exploited to death. Look at what that Italian player demonstrated during yesterday's match; he gets caught out of position during a duel, realizes he's lost, and simply collapses backward to force a stoppage—just so the Spaniard offense would be halted. And to my absolute frustration, it actually worked.

It makes you wonder what the point of any of this is. If any player can just take a dive at any moment to effectively neuter an opponent's scoring opportunity, then the integrity of the game is shot. It’s honestly mind-boggling. We are supposedly in an era where the goal is to make soccer more dynamic, faster, and more engaging, yet nobody seems bothered by tactics that actively kill the momentum.

Do you think they'll ever get rid of this ridiculous habit of stopping the play?

Look, you don't have to call off an attack just because someone's down on the turf; that’s what sportsmanship is all about. Personally, I wouldn't stop... but hey, that's just my take. 😬
If players were forced to stop every time, they'd just be diving onto the grass the second they saw a dangerous play coming.

I realize there isn't a rule mandating it, but this has become such a standard part of the game that I honestly can't recall the last time a squad actually stopped playing while someone was down on the turf. Whether they kicked the ball out themselves or the ref blew the whistle to halt play, it’s rare. In about 95% of these instances—and that's just my rough estimate, 🙂—the player sprawled on the grass pops back up after a few seconds and keeps sprinting like nothing happened.

psychology topic🙏🙏🙏🙏 did you catch that deer on the news? it just collapses, rolling around like its leg is snapped clean off, then the second the ref looks over, it pops right back up like it was just subbed in from the bench... 🙏

I would never dive to kick the ball out of bounds, mostly because players are just faking it half the time anyway.

Back when Marsonia was playing, their player went down rolling on the ground, yet this absolute model of ours just kicked the ball into the corner to stop play.🤣

I have already commented on the match thread, but I have never seen such unsportsmanlike behavior since the days of Di Natale. It feels as though the UEFA disciplinary committee should step in, as this is clearly unfair play. It seems to me that a few months ago, UEFA gave referees the sole discretion to halt an attack when a player goes down. This means the defending team can keep pushing until the official blows the whistle due to an "injury." However, the moment a player hits the turf, the opposing fans immediately erupt in boos, and players start pointing around, signaling for someone to clear the ball—even though the attacking team isn't actually obligated to stop. In those moments, it becomes nearly impossible to maintain momentum, so the ball usually just gets kicked out of bounds...

Man, Italians are absolute masters at this kind of game—just stalling for time. It’s been their signature move forever. Ask anyone who grew up watching the game back in the day, even fifty years ago when there was barely one ball in the stadium—Italy is up, they blast the ball way out into the stands toward their own fans, and suddenly, nobody wants to go grab it. 😁 Or just look at last season when they were running the league... honestly, it’s laughable.

When the goalkeeper for the local club fakes an injury and then actually admits to it later—why wasn't anyone making a huge deal out of it back then??? 😉 🤮

Aaron Baker said:When the goalkeeper for the local club fakes an injury and then actually admits to it later—why wasn't anyone making a huge deal out of it back then??? 😉 🤮

Yeah, I think you have a point. I don't recall this specific topic being brought up back then.

The point?🤷

It doesn't matter who is responsible for these antics. I have no interest in turning this thread into a petty debate over who the biggest flopper is. The goal here is to discuss the general habit of diving to get taken out of play.

If people watched this game without that heavy anti-Italian bias, they’d see that the Italians were actually being decent by kicking the ball out the second they saw an opponent go down, which is a huge difference from the Spaniards who tended to just keep playing until the ref finally blew the whistle... And as for Di Natale, one good play doesn't make a career.
When I think about fair play, the first person who comes to mind is that guy everyone calls the "fascist who has no place in soccer"—Di Canio—and of course, he's Italian too...

Yes, di Canio... that was that legendary moment where instead of just kicking the ball back in, he actually picked it up because the opposing goalkeeper was down on the field injured...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NQ1GFGSYKY

The king, I suppose. 🙏

Bradley Fisher3 said:If people watched this game without that heavy anti-Italian bias, they’d see that the Italians were actually being decent by kicking the ball out the second they saw an opponent go down, which is a huge difference from the Spaniards who tended to just keep playing until the ref finally blew the whistle... And as for Di Natale, one good play doesn't make a career.
When I think about fair play, the first person who comes to mind is that guy everyone calls the "fascist who has no place in soccer"—Di Canio—and of course, he's Italian too...

Give me a break. This thread isn't even intended as a war against Italians, so there's zero need to defend them. My point is simply this: I find it a positive thing that the Spaniards kept playing until the whistle blew. If everyone played like that, it would encourage actual fair play, not the other way around.

Bradley Fisher3 said:If people watched this game without that heavy anti-Italian bias, they’d see that the Italians were actually being decent by kicking the ball out the second they saw an opponent go down, which is a huge difference from the Spaniards who tended to just keep playing until the ref finally blew the whistle... And as for Di Natale, one good play doesn't make a career.
When I think about fair play, the first person who comes to mind is that guy everyone calls the "fascist who has no place in soccer"—Di Canio—and of course, he's Italian too...

The very same Di Canio who pulls a red card and then decides to take a swing at the ref right there on the pitch? Yeah, sure, let's call that "fair play." 🤷

Bradley Fisher3 said:If people watched this game without that heavy anti-Italian bias, they’d see that the Italians were actually being decent by kicking the ball out the second they saw an opponent go down, which is a huge difference from the Spaniards who tended to just keep playing until the ref finally blew the whistle... And as for Di Natale, one good play doesn't make a career.
When I think about fair play, the first person who comes to mind is that guy everyone calls the "fascist who has no place in soccer"—Di Canio—and of course, he's Italian too...

I mean, didn't you notice how they walked onto the field against the Stallions? It felt like their whole vibe was just "let's get this over with" without giving up a single goal. That’s why those scrappy situations actually worked out in their favor—they were playing defense and looking to close the book early. The Spanish guys, though—they weren't feeling that at all. They actually want to play football, you know? They were out there trying to create chances and push for a goal rather than just running out the clock.

Aaron Baker said:When the goalkeeper for the local club fakes an injury and then actually admits to it later—why wasn't anyone making a huge deal out of it back then??? 😉 🤮

Balić is such a joke...
did you even watch last season in the MLS? ☕

Here’s the perfect summary of this whole thread...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBeV8JXBe-g

By the way, check out this absolute unit scoring for Barca...🙏🙏😂

briskowl18 said:I mean, didn't you notice how they walked onto the field against the Stallions? It felt like their whole vibe was just "let's get this over with" without giving up a single goal. That’s why those scrappy situations actually worked out in their favor—they were playing defense and looking to close the book early. The Spanish guys, though—they weren't feeling that at all. They actually want to play football, you know? They were out there trying to create chances and push for a goal rather than just running out the clock.

I mean, haven't you realized by now that for decades, the core philosophy of Italian teams has basically just been "whatever we do, don't let them score."

Nathan Edwards62 said:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NQ1GFGSYKY

The king, I suppose. 🙏

Is it just me, or would Paolo Di Canio have missed that shot anyway?

I honestly think he’d probably miss the shot in the 90th minute.🙏

edit: yeah, I was just trying to start a debate about whether or not Paolo Di Canio would actually score or not!