Reuters Soccer Blog
World Soccer views and news
Tougher action needed on soccer ‘simulation’
Chile’s Group H game against Switzerland was wrecked as a spectacle by the dismissal of Swiss midfielder Valon Behrami for what the referee saw as a serious foul on Chile’s Arturo Vidal — to the disbelief of Swiss coach Ottmar Hitzfeld and his players.
It was an incident that changed the game from a nicely balanced encounter into one where Switzerland were forced to defend with 10 men for the best part of an hour eventually losing 1-0.
It would be interesting to see what FIFA make of the incident if they take a look at the TV pictures, which appear to show Vidal making a couple of hand swipes to the side of his opponent and then dropping to the floor, hands over face, as if he had been struck hard in the face – when it looked like he had barely been brushed.
“Vidal fell down with a lot of drama. It was quite a performance,” Hitzfeld said after the game. “It clearly wasn’t a red card — it wasn’t even a yellow card. It was unfair of Vidal to roll around on the floor and simply ask for a red card.”
Italian protest reopens doping ban debate
All professional matches in Italy started 15 minutes late at the weekend in protest at the Court of Arbitration for Sport banning two players for a year for turning up late for a doping control.
Daniele Mannini, now at Napoli, and Davide Possanzini were punished for tardiness after Brescia’s game against Chievo in Dec. 2007. Both said they did nothing wrong and Italian football has for once come together to support them.
