Source: Daily_Mail
ANDY TOWNSEND: Put an end to the diving... kids will copy the stars
When a player falls over in the area and gets a soft penalty against you it is the most gut-wrenching feeling for an opposition player.
You could have put in 80 minutes of hard graft away from home and all of a sudden your opponents have an easy chance to score.
You feel like someone has emptied your bank account or broken into your house and stolen your telly. It is a sickening feeling of being utterly helpless.
Eduardo
Fall guy: Eduardo got what he deserved - but to brand him a cheat is wrong
You feel cheated. You would rather take an elbow in the face than have someone fall over in the box and get a penalty.
Personally, I don't remember falling over and winning a penalty. But there must have been a situation when I have gone down and one of my team-mates has scored from the resulting free-kick.
HAVE YOUR SAY...
JOIN SPORTSMAIL'S CAMPAIGN TO NAME AND SHAME THE DIVERS Sportsmail has launched a campaign aimed at shaming football's divers and we need you to be a part of it. Former top FIFA referee, and Sportsmail columnist, Graham Poll will highlight the cheats and if you do the same, we can embarrass them into staying on their feet.
I have maximised the opportunity, shall we say. It wasn't right then and it isn't right now.
The mentality is that we deserve a penalty because we have had three go against us.
What goes around comes around. But that doesn't make it right, either.
We have got the ability now to analyse and monitor incidents and ensure that players are not getting away with it any more.
In my opinion, Arsenal's Eduardo dived and he deserves his two-match ban. I think he will do a little bit more to stay on his feet from now on.
No diving!
No Diving! Sportsmail's campaign to root out divers
But I don't like the word cheat. Eduardo did not run out against Celtic thinking 'given half the chance I am going to hit the floor'. But he did try to make the most of the situation.
He has been punished for it and I think ultimately it will be for the good of the game.
When you see kids of 10 or 11 falling over in the park on a Sunday afternoon, you realise that we have allowed it to get out of control.
I can understand Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger's frustration in that he feels Eduardo is being made a scapegoat for something that has gone on for a long time.
I also understand his frustration at similar incidents going unpunished. But I think we are at a point where we all want to eradicate diving from the game.
Why can't the English game be the standard bearer? Our product is watched around the world partly because of its honesty. If we want that reputation to continue, rather than complain about what UEFA have done, we have to see it as a starting point.
UEFA have got the ball rolling and the rest of football has to follow suit.
If we don't want to see our teams robbed of three points or fail to progress in a cup competition because of diving, we have all got to take a stand.
That means governing authorities, clubs, managers and players alike.
Call for consistency: UEFA president Michel Platini must punish every diver after the governing body set a precedent with the Eduardo two-match ban
Managers have to say they will have a word with their players if they step out of line.
They have to chastise them, otherwise we are never going to stop it. It is the only way to stamp it out.
A precedent has been set by UEFA and we must have some consistency.
Are the FA or the Premier League going to back their stance? I sincerely hope they do because, if not, Arsene Wenger has every right to be upset with the action taken against Eduardo.
