Should UEFA ban Eduardo?

The footballing body made news today for two major annoucements. One, it has decided to ban Eduardo from Arsenal for allegedly diving in the penalty box. Two, it has decided to use force to curb club spending in order to bring club spending to equilibrium. All these make for interesting commentary, but the diving incident must have ruffled a few feathers already in the Arsenal camp.

Eduardo's diving incident is as we say, very typical of competitive football these days. More often than not, players go over easily when being touched in the penalty box, as if they have been shot by a sniper. Why? For the simple reason that you could earn yourself a penalty in a game. Now is that gamesmanship or sportsmanship? You be the judge. Eduardo could have dived purposely, or he could have reacted instinctively to the goalkeeper coming quickly at his feet. Was the referee supposed to make a better decision? Perhaps if the referee was better equipped by UEFA, whether it be technology or new rules to include video footage in live play, the incident could have been prevented.

Will Celtic react as furiously if they have won the game, or will they have given up... say a qualifier's berth if they had won by a single penalty themselves? I don't know if the Scottish FA will have cried foul if they had went through to the group stage and had their positions flipped. Truth is Celtic did get outplayed in both legs and they probably didn't deserve it as much as Arsenal, penalty or not.

In a fair opinion, I don't think punishment here is something that should be discussed when the match is over. Punishment meted out for this scenario is still pretty much a grey area. Call me old fashioned, but I believe in human integrity. Sports is a measure of a man's true character and has always been a test of the human spirit, whether it be persistence, determination or simple honesty.

If Eduardo did dive and felt that the penalty was undeserved, he could have raised his arm and ask the referee to reverse the decision. I remembered Robbie Fowler doing that in a crucial game for Liverpool. Liverpool lost the game eventually but everyone including his own manager and especially the referee respected him for his decision to stand up for what he thought was right. If the UEFA body wants to teach fairplay, then start with inculcating integrity and commend exemplary examples like Robbie Fowler. The sages and the mentors of this younger generation of footballers must stand up and teach integrity. To change a corrupt system, don't punish those who get sucked into it. The young players grew up to a system that taught them to dive when they can, and it has been covered up as gamesmanship, which till this day is debatable.

Many will admit that the system in modern football leaves little room for the right ethics. You would think that the younger players need to learn integrity from the people who should lead by example, the coaches and the managers. These are the people who form the beliefs in a young footballer and teach them the true spirit of competition. By punishing the player, it does not change the core issue which till now is the mantra being harped on; "to win at all costs possible", if not explicitly, then implicitly understood in the dressing rooms of major football clubs.

To overhaul a system fraught with an integrity issue, I wonder if deterrence is a long term solution, if a solution at all. Perhaps club education and public commendation for exemplary acts of integrity is a more sustainable one that serves to change a generation's mindset.