Has football stopped being a contact sport?

I'm absolutely fed up to the back teeth of players throwing themselves to the floor, screaming in supposed agony and the replay showing the barest brush with another player.
Then the analyst saying, "oh let's have a look, yes, maybe there was a small clash of knees" as though it excuses it.
It's about time these flagrant cheats were called out time and again in the media for what they are.

 

He drew the foul well
He had every right to go down

Two phrases which should be banned from commentary and analysis. I'd insert it as a clause in all broadcast contracts that if they are said on air the broadcaster gets a huge fine

 

I would award a free punch to the opponent, to inflict pain equivalent to that being simulated

 

I agree with that In part but when you see honest players clearly impeded and fouled whereas they lose the ball but don’t go down refs ignore them.
Imo VAR should be used and a points system awarded meaning miss matches etc but keep the game flowing

 

Ive stopped watching football on TV but i know it became a non contact sport about 5 years ago, at some point theyll start giving these minimal contact fouls all over the park and not just in the penalty area, when that happens youll end up with around 10 minutes of football each game. The other 80 miutes will be spent watching players argue with the ref and stand taking to team mates about the free kick they’re about to take. If you think its bad now wait until the next world cup if you’re still watching it by then.

 

It’s when they go down like they are mortally wounded, see the balls gone their way and bounce back up again!​

 

You would have hoped with VAR some of this would stop. Instead players seem to see VAR as a excuse to do it more. A bit of contact and down they go hoping it will look good enough to be given.

 

There will always be cheats in every sports, but I think people often exaggerate the amount of cheating in football. I was just thinking about it earlier today, and realised that while players still often seem to exaggerate their falls, I haven't seen that many clear dives in this tournament.

The game is much faster these days, so maybe that's why we see more of those dramatic looking falls now. Also, people often don't seem to realise that while the tackles and falling to the ground at full speed don't look that bad on TV, most non-professionals would be hospitalised for that...

 

Grown men holding their faces and heads like they've been hit with a sledgehammer when there has actually been minimal or no contact. They should be ashamed and embarrassed but sadly then seem to be happy behaving like little girls in front of the world.

It drives me mad.

 

Agree with that Tomi
What looks innocuous contact when a player goes down on close up is easy to see why players go down the slightest touch at speeds they are travelling is easy to see in slow mo . However the pure diving where no contact is clear has been dramatically cut back

 

Churton. In answer to your question. Yes.

 

Its definitely stopped being a contact sport for Scotland. They aren't allowed within 5000 miles of a world cup player

 

Would that account for Suarez after receiving the barest, if any, brush of a fingertip going down clutching his head like he'd been hit by a heavyweight?
Or an absolute myriad of similar examples? The very tip of a boot being scuffed resulting in an arm flailing, rolling around and then back again dying swan act? It's pathetic.

 

As long as there are humans involved in the game, there will always be cheating. But now that everything that happens on the pitch gets captured on some camera, I feel that blatant cheating isn't as common as it used to be. In fact I'm pretty sure that there have always been cheaters in the game - in the "old days" they just weren't caught because there weren't super slow motion cameras all over the place.

 

I agree with you there. Cheating has and always will go on. I just happen to be tired of seeing every single tackle involving contact resulting in a player throwing himself on the floor.

 

Oh, and to answer your question... Yes, I remember one incident today where Suarez seemed to be faking a head injury. But it's quite often the usual suspects who do that... Seeing Luis Suarez rolling on the pitch in "agony" is hardly a surprise!

 

Well we're agreed on Suarez. The sad part is he's a good player. A very good one. His antics simply tarnish his image in many peoples' eyes.

 

Yeah, I know. I too wish that FIFA would do something about those over-dramatic falls. The technology is there so why don't they use it...?

 

The thing is Tomi, FIFA CAN sort things out when they want to. A strict clampdown on grappling and pulling in the area at set pieces this tournament and things have improved significantly.
Surely they know all fans want cheating of any sort eradicated. They could wipe out diving in six months if they put their mind to it.

 

Introduce fighting like in ice hockey. You'd be less inclined to feign injury if you knew you were going to get smacked for it.