Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has called on the Football Association (FA) to ban players who dive in order to rid the game of playacting to win free-kicks or penalties.
Diving is once again a hot topic in the English Premier League after three Chelsea players — Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa and Willian — were all booked for simulation last month.
Chelsea defenders Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic have also been accused of diving by opposition managers, with Blues boss Jose Mourinho countering that there is an agenda against players at his club.
Wenger said the only way to solve the problem would be for the FA to take retrospective action against players who have clearly dived.
“I’m against diving,” Wenger told reporters. “We should punish it after the game.”
“The problem will be to decide when it was obvious diving or not,” he added. “That’s a big issue and sometimes it’s not obvious.”
“Punish only obvious cases, but not mixed ones,” the Frenchman said. “You have to suspend the players, I don’t know how long. It depends. I am not a specialist in this kind of thing, but the only way that the players will stop doing it is if they feel they can get punished.”
“Whether it is Arsenal or Manchester United or Liverpool or Chelsea, it is for everybody the same,” Wenger said.
The Arsenal manager was also quick to dismiss speculation linking forward Lukas Podolski with a move to Inter in Italy.
The German has found himself largely out of favor this season, having started only two matches, but Wenger was adamant that any move to Italy was not imminent.
“That is a joke. Inter Milan are not serious. There’s only talk,” Wenger said.
Arsenal are currently fifth in the standings, level on 33 points with fourth-placed Southampton, who they face in the Premier League today.
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
LIKE FINE WINE: Thirty-eight-year-old Djokovic won his 101st title of his career in Athens, becoming the oldest tournament winner since Ken Roswell, 44, in 1977 Elena Rybakina on Saturday clinched her biggest title since Wimbledon in 2022, defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. The world No. 6 put on yet another serving masterclass and was at her returning best as she became the first Kazakh and the first player representing an Asian country to lift the WTA Finals singles trophy. Having gone 3-0 in round-robin play, Rybakina earned a record US$5.235 million and would finish the year ranked No. 5 in the world. “It’s been an incredible week, I honestly didn’t expect any result, and to go so far,
Bjorn Werner on Saturday signed everything thrust in front of him by NFL fans who packed a Berlin plaza. His old Indianapolis Colts jersey — it is a best-seller in Germany — footballs, scarves, miniature helmets. Even a cleat. Werner’s NFL career ended after three seasons because of injuries, but he has become a star in his home country as a TV commentator and media personality. He cohosts a popular podcast, has a big social media presence and is credited with helping popularize the sport in Germany. As the former first-round draft pick waded through throngs of fans, he looked around and took
RSS