14Dec

Aluko’s ban highlights need for disciplinary consistency

by Ali Hunter

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Sone Aluko’s two-game ban for diving against Dunfermline on Saturday is getting plenty of Rangers fans worked up; and rightly so. My opinions on the matter are not a moan at the severity of the charge, or the sheer ridiculousness of the ‘let’s make an example of him’ attitude taken by the SFA. It’s the wider picture. The ever-evolving need for the introduction of all-round video technology, whether instant or retrospective.

As the Rangers Supporters Trust rightly pointed out on Facebook recently, Aluko’s ban for diving to win a penalty against Dunfermline is, well, inconceivably heavy-handed, when compared to other offences anyway. Here’s the RST’s Facebook status in full:

You elbow someone off the ball, the ref catches it: red card, three-game ban
You elbow someone off the ball, the ref misses it: retrospective red card, three-game ban
You kick out at someone, the ref catches you: red card, two-game ban
You kick out at someone, the ref misses it: retrospective red card and a two-game ban
You dive, and get caught: yellow card
You dive and get away with it: retrospective two-game ban?

Where is the logic? I’ll answer: there isn’t any.

What’s needed here is a bit more consistency. Having watched Aluko’s dive several times, there is no doubting his efforts to con the referee into getting a penalty. Yes, it was a pathetic way to act, yes, he dived. And for that he should be punished. But the SFA’s retrospective two-match ban is close to lunacy. It’s been argued that the severity of the punishment is relative to the importance of the dive: it won Rangers a penalty, which was converted and the hosts won by a one-goal margin. But if you consider that claim, you start to get yourself muddled in the business of future telling.

What would have happened if Aluko had been rightly booked for the dive and a free kick given to Dunfermline? Would the game have followed the exact same path? Would it have ended 1-1? Well, no. The game could have taken any number of routes. Rangers could have capitulated entirely and lost by several goals.

Don’t get me wrong, retrospective punishment for diving is a very good idea. But at the moment, the powers that be haven’t cracked how to properly use the technology they have access to. So here’s my solution:

There are several TV cameras at most top Scottish matches these days. If the TV studios can point out a dive – at any point in the game, anywhere on the field – then so can someone at the SFA. So, keep a tally. If you must, you can also keep a corresponding code of how severe the dive is. I’m sure they’ll want to do that anyway; bureaucrats tend to go overboard with this kind of stuff.

If a certain player reaches a certain amount of dives, say, two in one game, ban him. Harsh? Re-read the punishment handed out to Aluko and tell me it’s harsh.

Now at this point you’re probably saying, “Well, some dives aren’t that easy to distinguish. They’re not always black and white.” Understandable, but still quite a modern consideration. The offence most dives derive from is a trip. Closely examine how easily players go down these days and you’ll wonder how they ever survive a short walk to the shops. A real trip is easily noticeable, ergo a dive is often easy to spot. Especially after two or three replays.

But video technology cannot be introduced to solely tackle the issue of diving, it must cover all aspects of foul play. Retrospective banning cannot prioritise diving over, say, career-threatening tackles that aren’t caught first time around by the referee. It’s a tender issue in football, but one that must be resolved in the near future. A campaign to introduce such measures needs to be backed by key figures in the game – not just in Scotland.

But that’s the crux of the matter really, isn’t it? How far do we want to clean up the image of football? Is anyone concerned enough with the decaying reputation of the once tough sport? Well, I am. So if you’re listening, George Peat, I’m all yours. I’ll be more than happy to come in every weekend and impartially note down every wrong decision, using the mystical power of hindsight. It’s the least I can do. Just no early starts, OK?

Posted by Rangers fan Ali Hunter

Follow Ali on Twitter @AliHunter1