The 5 Most Disgusting Dives in Football

Diving has become a part of football. However, deceiving the referees is not just unfair but it’s against the rules. Even the biggest players, like Neymar, Suarez and Ramos are often caught cheating. We’ve collected some of the worst cases of cheating for you. Here are the 5 most disgusting dives in football.

With introducing video assistant referees, football associations around the globe expect football to become a cleaner sport. That doesn’t just concern aggressive tackles, but the opposite of that: diving. However, without the right regulations, VAR alone can’t bring any success. In England, FA decided to introduce a 2-match-ban from 2017 for everyone who tries to trick the referee. It’s no surprise that this form of unfair behaviour is getting less popular in the Premier League, even without the use of video assistant referees.

In Spain, however, there are no regulations like that. A diving player has to receive a yellow card for his offence, but booking them is also something Spanish referees forget to do. Without deterring sanctions, diving has almost became a norm there. Just like we’ve seen in the last El Clasico, when about 2-3 players could’ve been banned for diving, but neither the referee or the association punished them.

That’s why we decided to collect the most disgusting examples of diving from our the decade. We’re going to talk about an example from the Premier League, the previous World Cup, and how some popular La Liga players behave in the Champions League. Let’s check out the 5 most disgusting dives in football!

5. David Luiz was laughing after he tricked the referee

Our first incident comes from the darker times of Premier League, when the two-match ban for diving wasn’t a thing yet. In 2013, Chelsea had the lead at Old Trafford against Manchester United. In the last few minutes of the game, David Luiz rushed towards one of United’s corners. He tried to hide the ball from the opponent, but Rafael followed him, and tried with a killer tackle. It was a dangerous one, he didn’t kick the ball, but neither he kicked the opponent.

Luiz still started to roll on the floor, like he was kicked, while he was laughing at the angry home fans. Rafael was sent off, and the Chelsea defender’s dive has become world famous. The home team’s manager, Sir Alex Ferguson was furious after the game, comparing David Luiz to a dying swan.

He retaliates but (David Luiz) quite clearly elbows him twice then rolls about like a dying swan and that convinces the referee. He was smiling. It’s bad. What kind of professional is that? The ref has been bought by the fact Luiz is rolling about. When a player retaliates he gets punished the most. Luiz rolled about. You see that with European, foreign and South American players. Rafael was rash, he’s young and should know better but retaliation never works. I wouldn’t say it was violent conduct.” – Sir Alex Ferguson about the incident

4. Busquets became famous for his diving

Sergio Busquets is rated as one of the best defensive midfielders in the game nowadays. However, back in 2010 he’s become famous for his incredible dive against Inter Milan in the Champions League. If we take a look at the footage it’s clear that Motta did touch Busquets’ face for a moment, but the incident was definitely not a second-yellow-worthy one. The Inter midfielder was already booked and had to leave the pitch in the 28th minute.

The most disgusting moment was when Busquets took a little peak at the referee while rolling on the floor. It was to see if Motta gets sent off. Therefore, everyone could see through the television footage that he wasn’t hurt at all, and his intentions became clear. Make Inter lose a man, even if it takes cheating. Definitely one of the most disgusting dives in football.

“He always does it, I have seen it on TV and he is holding his face and then looking at the referee – it is terrible behaviour.” – Thiago Motta

3. Barca needed a little trick for their magical comeback against PSG

According to our latest review about Unibet Sportsbook, it’s clear that they’re really trustworthy when it comes to football predictions. We must believe Unibet Sportsbook when they say that Luis Suarez is the 2nd most likely player to become La Liga’s top scorer this year. He’s a quality player.

However, Suarez is not on our list of the most disgusting dives in football because of his finishing skills. The Barcelona forward is also famous – mostly amongst English supporters – for his racism and cheating skills. His most infamous dive was probably this one below, against PSG.

You might not remember, but this is how Barcelona managed to make their historical comeback against the French side. After this dive, the Catalan club could score from penalty, and the rest is history. By getting their 6th goal, they kicked PSG out of the Champions League. Suarez didn’t get a minute of suspension for it, which makes this case even more disgusting, unfair and disgraceful.

2. Ramos should be embarrassed for what he’s done to Cuadrado in the Champions League Final

Unless you’re a Real Madrid supporter, you probably believe that Sergio Ramos is one of the most disgusting players in world football at the moment. It’s no surprise, as the brutal defender has received more red cards than anyone in the history of the top 5 European football leagues. But that’s not the only aspect that makes people define Ramos as disgraceful. His dives are also in the mix. Just look at this footage from the 2017 Champions League Final of his Academy Award-winning performance:

Former Manchester United defender, Rio Ferdinand commented this case with the following words:

“When Ramos sees that tomorrow, he’ll be embarrassed. He’s gotta be, man. If my son watched me do this I’d be embarrassed to look at my son in the eye. He’s got the guy sent off and the game was over from that moment.”  

1. Neymar made himself a laughing stock with rolling on the grass at the World Cup

If the Academy Award belongs to Ramos, it’s the Golden Raspberry Award what Neymar should receive for his performance. The Brazilian forward has became one of the best footballers in the game recently. Online sportsbook sites in the UK believe that he even has the chance to win the Balloon d’Or this year. However, the role model of football-loving kids around the world has made himself a laughing stock at the World Cup. We all remember how he was barely touched but started to act like a fish pulled from the water. It was definitely disgusting, but since nobody got sent off because of him we can now all laugh at it now.

Neymar obviously received a lot of comments on his diving skills, but he tries to stay positive.

“I have to take it with humour. It’s part of the game and each person reacts differently and thinks differently. Do you think I want to suffer tackles all the time? No. It’s painful, it hurts. After the games I stray back for 4-5 hours putting on ice, it’s complicated but if you haven’t experienced that you’ll never understand it.” – Neymar said about his diving.

It wasn’t the first time he tried to get some advantage by pretending he’s hurt, but definitely the funniest one. However, if he managed to get somebody sent off by that, it would’ve been so joyful to see him rolling on the ground. Cheating like that is a serious offense, even if it’s so bad we laugh at it. That’s why we’ve decided to name this case as the most disgusting dive in football.

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