Diving in the GAA has been a major topic of discussion over the last couple of weeks.
During the first few rounds of the league, there have been various examples of players going down too easily in both codes, some of which resulted in a member of the opposition being unfairly punished.
It is something nobody wants to see. Considering the physicality that is often on show in Gaelic football and hurling, someone going down and feigning injury in an attempt to get an opponent in trouble never goes down well.
It seems likely that both the GAA and referees will make a concerted effort to cut down on such incidents in the weeks ahead, although some believe that the solution to the issue is rather straightforward.
Shane Dowling calls for no tolerance to diving in GAA
Many sports have brought in retrospective bans for those who are found guilty of diving, with soccer and the NBA just two examples. Something like that should certainly be considered in the GAA.
Speaking on the RTÉ GAA Podcast, Shane Dowling said that those who throw themselves to the ground should be 'embarrassed' by their actions. He also feels that bans should be handed down to those found guilty of such an action.
"It's embarrassing for the person sent off, but it's more embarrassing for the person who jumps to the ground..." - Shane Dowling has his say on the diving debate.
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It's embarrassing for the person that gets sent off because they did nothing wrong, but it's more embarrassing for the person who threw themselves on the ground.
It's actually always been in the game, there's no point saying otherwise. It may not have been as prominent as it is now, but it has always been in the game...
If that is you or your teammate, afterwards it is embarrassing for you. People don't go up and give you a clap on the back and say 'well done, you got your man sent off'...
If a player gets sent off because an official thinks they have hit someone and they've gone to ground, within days that player should get a phone call to apologise. The player that did go down should just get punished.
I don't see why they make a big drama of these things. As far as I'm concerned, these things are very simple. If somebody gets a player sent off by jumping to the ground when they shouldn't be, they should be subsequently banned.
If a player gets sent off because the referee thinks he has hit somebody, it should be rescinded within a couple of days.
Nobody likes it. I guarantee you one thing, if you are that player that jumps to the ground, you are embarrassed afterwards. You'd want to be a fair cold person not to be.
This seems like a relatively straightforward solution to an increasingly common issue.
Hopefully the GAA take action sooner rather than later.
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