Take action against soccer 'divers' too

JUST when we thought the "beautiful game" was starting to live up to its reputation of being a beautiful game, with some of the best first round Fifa World Cup football we've seen for decades, along came diving Arjen Robben to burst our collective bubble.

On Sunday night, against Mexico, he took four theatrical dives in an attempt to gain advantage from the referee, two of them inside the penalty box and two outside it. Unfortunately, for the swindled Mexicans, the intimidated official finally gave in and awarded the most innocuous of these dives with a penalty and the Central Americans were on the next plane home.

Diving is nothing more than cheating, it is tantamount to moving the goalposts behind the referee's back, but it is only done by certain players, like Robben, Christiano Ronaldo and who can forget the greatest actor of them all, Louis Figo. You will never find Lionel Messi or Thomas Muller diving to get a penalty, it is beneath their dignity to cheat.

What is the difference between the premeditated, intentional cheating of Robben and the impulsive, serial biting of Luis Suarez? Well, one is a conspiracy against the spirit of the beautiful game, while the other is immature stupidity, but both should be punished.

So, why has Suarez been banned for four months while Robben was preparing to play in the quarter finals? Perhaps Fifa is a microcosm of the wider world, where spoilt-brat children are punished while their wife-swopping, cocaine-sniffing, alcoholic parents are considered to be trendy.

Or let's take the comparison outside football. What is the difference between the cheating of Robben and the cheating of Lance Armstrong?

In all sports, cheating is still cheating. Armstrong duped the authorities into thinking he was straight by masking his habits and Robben is currently doing just the same by masking his non-existent injuries.

One was banned for life, while the other will be welcomed home as a hero.

The real answer to the question is that one sporting body employs blanket condemnation, while the other is selective. Fifa's hypocrisy is fast turning the beautiful game into a "not-so-beautiful game".

Bob McChlery, Kenton on Sea