Divers beware! FA will use video to ban cheats like David Ngog who con the referee
No contact: Lee Carsley slides in and David Ngog goes over the top in the incident which caused such outrage
David Ngog's outrageous dive against Birmingham City could lead to a major change in the way the English game is governed. The Football Association are ready to act after a series of damaging incidents - highlighted by Sportsmail’s campaign against diving cheats.
Sportsmail understands the FA are now looking to make a significant change to their own rulebook, allowing them to take action against players such as Ngog.
At present, the FA follow FIFA’s regulations in refusing to punish players retrospectively who are shown to have cheated through diving.
The Liverpool striker won a crucial penalty on Monday night when he went down as
Birmingham midfielder Lee Carsley slid in to challenge. His action, which led to Steven Gerrard converting the penalty to earn under-pressure Liverpool a 2-2 draw, has been condemned across the game.
FA officials recognise the damage such incidents inflict on the sport and are mindful that UEFA have banned cheats on the basis of video evidence. Europe’s ruling body banned the Arsenal striker Eduardo after he dived against Celtic, before reversing the decision.
The call for action has grown stronger since Sportsmail launched our campaign to outlaw diving cheats and we have been backed by managers, players and fans alike.
The Eduardo incident and the one involving team-mate Emmanuel Eboue against Manchester United in August highlighted the growing menace in the game.
The FA move comes as Birmingham City defender Scott Dann, sickened by the incident which cost his side victory, called for tough action to clear the game of cheats.
Dann, a lifelong Liverpool fan, said: ‘The only way you can stop it is to suspend cheats and it is up to the FA to sort it out.
‘Rules can be changed to clean up football and this is something that needs to be addressed and people have to be punished heavily. Everyone who saw it knew it was a dive. It was so obvious.’
Match referee Peter Walton will be asked to explain his decision to award the penalty at a special meeting of referees called to deal with what is a growing crisis in the game.
Referees’ chief Keith Hackett said: ‘I will be sitting down with Peter on a one-to-one basis, as well as in a group format, to see how we can best deal with this problem so that errors are reduced.
‘We will go through what the referee could have done to avoid this error.’
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is unlikely to take any action against Ngog but will have to address his side’s shortcomings as a matter of urgency, as winger Albert Riera reflected on a return of one win from nine games and admitted it has turned into a mental barrier for Liverpool’s under-performing players.
Riera and Yossi Benayoun both face up to six weeks out with torn hamstrings. Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard are doubts for the visit of Manchester City a week on Saturday. To add to the injury problems, defender Daniel Agger has reported more discomfort in his troublesome back.
Goalkeeper Pepe Reina recently described Liverpool’s precarious Champions’ League plight as ‘disgraceful’ and Riera was just as forthright as he bluntly conceded his team’s attempts to halt the slide are ‘not working’.
