Diving has officially reached the referees.
In recent years, we've grown accustomed to watching footballers become more and more eager to hit the deck under the slightest touch from an opponent to the point that contact is no longer necessary for a player to go down.
It's cheating, plain and simple, and it's easy to understand why players do it if they continue to get away with it.
In the heat of an intense match, feigning injury or playing up the impact of a foul could lead to an opposition player receiving a yellow card which will make him all the more tentative when it comes to tackling while a red card results in a numerical advantage.
So the motivation is understandable, even if you don't agree with the morality of the act of simulation.
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But we have absolutely no idea what inspired this referee to do what he did during a Brazilian game at the weekend.
During Vasco Da Gama's 2-2 draw with Flamengo on Sunday night, the visitors' centre-forward Luis Fabiano had just been shown a yellow card. And he wasn't happy.
The former Brazil international got right in the official's face, an admittedly reprehensible act, but he definitely didn't touch the referee. Definitely!
But that didn't stop the man in the middle from flying backwards as if he'd been shot in one of the more ridiculous scenes you're ever going to see on a pitch, before he upgraded the punishment to a red card.
Football's gone to the dogs!
