“Get Up, Drogba" - Diving Culture

By Ben Johnston

So, the subject of diving is one again slapped liberally across the back pages in a way unseen since the dubious heroics of Robert Pires for the ‘Invincibles' against Portsmouth at Highbury, or perhaps even since ‘Der Bomber' arrived just up the road in N17. Players, seemingly always clad in blue, are flinging themselves to the ground in faux-agony, screaming for mother, only to hop up a few minutes later and score the winner. Likewise, a similar number of players in blue seem to feel they have the authority to book the opposition, waving a staggering number of imaginary cards every weekend, as referees have to high tail it to avoid becoming part of a ruckus more at home in a shady Brixton pub.


There is, however, a question that nobody is really asking. To most, the answer is immediately obvious, the question provocative, and the problem acute. But that's something you'll only find in certain places around the world. Elsewhere people couldn't give a monkeys if a player dived to win a penalty. So I ask, is there really anything wrong with diving, and if so, what?

Diving is perceived differently in the different footballing cultures around the world. Those that rely on hard work an organisation, such as the English, German and Soviet cultures, frown upon diving and castigate any players who take a tumble. Conversely, the more traditionally ‘continental' or Latin countries seem to find it awkwardly acceptable, part of the game not worth making a fuss about, as much a skill as drawing the foul in Basketball.

To illustrate my example, take a look at Didier Drogba, a player whose histrionics have garnered him many column inches of late. He came from France with not a whisper about his habits, merely an image of a powerful, direct frontman with the ability to destroy any defence on his day. I am, of course, assuming simulation isn't something he's taken to whilst he was on these shores, and that he was similarly prone to a dive in France. Now think back to the aforementioned Klinsmann. Coming from a Germanic football culture, even the suspicion that he had a tendency to take a tumble in the box brought with it universal tabloid condemnation of the player before he had even kicked a ball. The French didn't care that Drogba did it. The Germans were positively outraged by the suspicion that one of their top stars sometimes did. Klinsmann never once threw himself to the ground in the premiership. How nice it would be to say that of Drogba.

This comes as something of a paradox. The foundations of German football culture come from teamwork, effort, and a win-at-all-costs attitude to competition, whereas the Latin nations (especially Portugal and Brazil) place, traditionally, a much higher value on the style in which a match is played than whether or not it is won. Logically thinking, you'd expect those with the do-or-die attitudes to be the most prone to diving, but if one looks a little bit deeper, there is another level. The Germanic teams base their style around honesty. The trust that a player will give 100% for the team, place the collective above the individual, and win with honour and pride. However, the flashy Latinos base their game around deception, subtlety and guile, at complete loggerheads with the efficiency espoused by their European counterparts. This culture is far more likely to develop a sneaky act of gamesmanship such as diving, where a player doing so will receive the congratulations of his team mates rather than castigation by all watching, and a yellow card.

I realise I have generalised horribly, but for stereotypes to exist, they must be founded in some kind of truth. With the fairly new experience of foreigners coming in to the English game, they are bringing in things which their home football culture accepts, but the English one passionately regrets. Whilst diving may be seen as a skill in some parts of the world, in England it is definitely not, and for us to preserve our footballing identity, it must be stamped out on these shores and amongst English players.

However, I can't help but think that if, for example, the Portuguese stopped diving overnight, world football would lose some of its colour and variety, Football is a world game, one that links, yet distinguishes, the different cultures of the world, and offers them a universal arena in which their similarities and differences are acted out for all to see. I'm not saying diving should be encouraged, but it should be accepted as a problem that isn't going to away unless we start to strip away some of the things that make our sport great, and with crowds more passionless than ever, and players booked for celebrating with them, that's the last thing we need right now.

An article by Ben Johnston who writes articles for Focus on football - Football news and articles from the fans.