Ethical Diving In Soccer

A referee's responsibility is to monitor gameplay from a neutral point of view and to ensure that the rules of the sport are being followed. If a referee observes a violation it is their duty to enforce appropriate penalties against the players in question. Diving in soccer is a difficult call as diving is considered normative cheating, nevertheless it is still the referee’s obligation to judge and rule accordingly. Unethical behaviors should not be tolerated and referees should ensure the game stays ethical so that sport has value.
Normative cheating, acts performed during play to achieve an unfair advantage (Eitzen, 1996) but that are usually accepted as part of the game, are widespread among the sport and violate ethical principles. There are other unethical tactics practiced in soccer which are not quite as obvious to …show more content…
Performance enhancing drugs are common in almost all high levels of sport even with explicit bans against such substances. Intentional intimidation is used against opposing players in order to gain a psychological advantage. Verbal harassment coming from the crowd is used against players of the competing team. In extreme cases, players, coaches, or even teams have been caught trying to use illegal equipment in competition. These behaviours are examples of the extent that individuals and teams will go to in order to win. It is a clear portrayal of the mindset that winning is more important than being fair and a snapshot of a microcosm of society where the bottom line is more important than how one got there (Eitzen, 1996). As “good” sportsmanship is considered a product of sport, there must be a recognition that modern “bad” sportsmanship is a product of how athletes have learned to behave in the current sport environment. A winning at all costs approach leads to the