Flopping

[RonMexico3]

Can someone tell me the rule for floppers....I mean "injured' players?  I saw this happen twice yesterday and once in the region final: a hard play happens and one player goes down and stays down till the whistle is blown for that player (twice when the whistle was blown (looking at you ECS) the team that had the ball was not from the flopper's team).  Once play stops, the player gets up and "shakes it off" like nothing happened.  In all three cases the player was not told to leave the pitch?

 

If play is stopped because a player is "injured", why is that player not required to leave the pitch?  That would stop a lot of these floppers/divers.

[reaction]

It's part of the game. The flopping isn't going anywhere. Just get use to it and adjust. 

[RonMexico3]

It's part of the game. The flopping isn't going anywhere. Just get use to it and adjust. 

 

I can see that being taught at Boyd Buchannan but our boys take pride in being tough, not divers.  Our guys will get all over each other if on of our guys flop.  The ref had to stop play twice this year because of a player down...one had cramps in both legs and the other had a separated shoulder, both left the pitch.

 

Football, hockey, lacrosse, and even baseball players joke about the "toughness" of soccer players when they see floppers

[reaction]

I can see that being taught at Boyd Buchannan but our boys take pride in being tough, not divers.  Our guys will get all over each other if on of our guys flop.  The ref had to stop play twice this year because of a player down...one had cramps in both legs and the other had a separated shoulder, both left the pitch.

 

Football, hockey, lacrosse, and even baseball players joke about the "toughness" of soccer players when they see floppers

Sounds like they need to be playing football and not futbol. And its not taught but it is part of the game.  

[RonMexico3]

Sounds like they need to be playing football and not futbol. And its not taught but it is part of the game.  

They do....I guess that's why they have more pride in their toughness and themselves.

[HerrFutbol]

It's part of the game. The flopping isn't going anywhere. Just get use to it and adjust. 

Its not part of the game. It is unsporting behavior. The player should be required to leave the pitch. If play stops due to a referee blowing a whistle for an injury, the injured player is required to leave.

[reaction]

Its not part of the game. It is unsporting behavior. The player should be required to leave the pitch. If play stops due to a referee blowing a whistle for an injury, the injured player is required to leave.

If the whistle was blown because of an injury (or rolling around on the ground acting hurt) then yes I agree, the player should have to go off the field. If your talking about flopping as in going down easy in the box and drawing a pk, I have no problem with it. 

[SoccerInTennessee]

I agree with reaction here. Flopping is part of the game. If the rule states that play is stopped for an injury and the player must leave, then that will stop some people. Flopping in soccer is in a lot of ways similar to what you see in basketball. It evolved because if you receive contact and don't go down, you a lot of times would not get fouls. Now it has come to occur when there is no contact. Tune into the NBA and watch Griffin, Westbrook, Durant, Ginobli, Parker, and the list goes on. It's the same as what you see in soccer. I don't see their teammates or Ronaldo's and Neymar's, for that matter, getting in their faces and telling them to stop diving or flopping. I would love to see a football, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, or whatever athlete cover over 7+ miles in 90 minutes of action all while being asked to maintain a high amount of thought and skill, with no timeouts to regroup or draw a play. Being able to do all that requires some amount of "toughness".

 

That aside, having a player leave the pitch won't stop diving. It will stop them from rolling around like they are seriously injured when they do dive. Diving is part of the game of soccer, as it is in many other sports. Receivers in football flop to get PI calls, basketball players flop to get to the free throw line, baseball players flop out of the way to sway an ump to call a ball or flop and act like a pitch hit them when it didn't. It is in some way or another in many sports, it's not a problem isolated to "not tough" soccer players.