Anyone who watched World Cup 2002 will remember this inexcusable piece of play-acting from Brazilian maestro Rivaldo.
Turkey defender Hakan Unsal was sent-off as a result of the incident, which makes Rivaldo's histrionics even worse.
Luis Felipe Scolari, who was managing Brazil at the time, offered this lame interpretation of the incident:
"The ball hit him on the knee and then bounced upwards. He put his hand on his face to stop being hit in the face,"
A rather pathetic excuse I'm sure you'll agree. And as you can see from the video, this is what happened:
1. Ball hits Rivaldo on the knee and rebounds away (nowhere near his face)
2. One second later: Rivaldo grabs his face in apparent agony (feigning injury).
3. Two seconds later: Rivaldo hurls himself to the ground as if a sniper in the stands has just taken him out.
Blatant, inexcusable cheating.
In this case, FIFA got involved and investigated the incident. After finding Rivaldo guilty, Marcel Mathier, chairman of the FIFA disciplinary committee, put on a tough display for the press:
"It is regrettable that a world class player such as Rivaldo has to resort to this type of subterfuge. The referee had not been able to see the incident as clearly as the FIFA disciplinary committee, who on the grounds of the television images provided, could determine Rivaldo had faked when pretended to have been hit in the face. Such behaviour means that everybody is cheated: not only the opponents and the referee but also the football fans.
Clearly a very strong public condemnation of the player. A strong punishment inevitably followed, right?
Wrong.
FIFA's spineless disciplinary committee fined Rivaldo a measly 11,500 Swiss francs. No ban; no significant financial penalty; no point.
And therein lies the problem with tackling cheating in football.
FIFA had a golden opportunity to really crack down on a trend that was (and is) debasing football. Instead, they just didn't have the balls to make a proper example out of the player. In short, they bottled it.
And to add insult to injury, despite the condemnation from FIFA and fellow players, Rivaldo showed zero remorse. When asked if he regretted the incident, he replied:
"No - I don't regret anything. This [faking] is something that will never end in football".
Such arrogance and apathy is depressing in the extreme, but you have to marvel at the sheer gall of the man! He's (sadly) right about one thing though - cheating in football will never end, especially if game continues to be run by weak-willed, incompetent, out-of-touch bureaucrats.
Turkey defender Hakan Unsal was sent-off as a result of the incident, which makes Rivaldo's histrionics even worse.
Luis Felipe Scolari, who was managing Brazil at the time, offered this lame interpretation of the incident:
"The ball hit him on the knee and then bounced upwards. He put his hand on his face to stop being hit in the face,"
A rather pathetic excuse I'm sure you'll agree. And as you can see from the video, this is what happened:
1. Ball hits Rivaldo on the knee and rebounds away (nowhere near his face)
2. One second later: Rivaldo grabs his face in apparent agony (feigning injury).
3. Two seconds later: Rivaldo hurls himself to the ground as if a sniper in the stands has just taken him out.
Blatant, inexcusable cheating.
In this case, FIFA got involved and investigated the incident. After finding Rivaldo guilty, Marcel Mathier, chairman of the FIFA disciplinary committee, put on a tough display for the press:
"It is regrettable that a world class player such as Rivaldo has to resort to this type of subterfuge. The referee had not been able to see the incident as clearly as the FIFA disciplinary committee, who on the grounds of the television images provided, could determine Rivaldo had faked when pretended to have been hit in the face. Such behaviour means that everybody is cheated: not only the opponents and the referee but also the football fans.
Clearly a very strong public condemnation of the player. A strong punishment inevitably followed, right?
Wrong.
FIFA's spineless disciplinary committee fined Rivaldo a measly 11,500 Swiss francs. No ban; no significant financial penalty; no point.
And therein lies the problem with tackling cheating in football.
FIFA had a golden opportunity to really crack down on a trend that was (and is) debasing football. Instead, they just didn't have the balls to make a proper example out of the player. In short, they bottled it.
And to add insult to injury, despite the condemnation from FIFA and fellow players, Rivaldo showed zero remorse. When asked if he regretted the incident, he replied:
"No - I don't regret anything. This [faking] is something that will never end in football".
Such arrogance and apathy is depressing in the extreme, but you have to marvel at the sheer gall of the man! He's (sadly) right about one thing though - cheating in football will never end, especially if game continues to be run by weak-willed, incompetent, out-of-touch bureaucrats.
3 COMMENTS:
It was unsporting behaviour from the Turkish player, but Rivaldo should have been banned for a few matches for that kind of play-acting and off course unsporting behaviour. It's making me sick.
<span style="">JAIMIE KANWAR,</span>
I wish you will leave Rivaldo alone or at the very least put things in perspective. What Rivaldo did was stupid and will hunt his reputation for some time. What was the advantage..the game was in the 93rd minute and he was about to take a corner for Brazil..what was the advantage. What Eduardo and Maradona(1986) did is cheating..there teams benefitted ...Please tell us how brazil benefitted.
Good points. Which only make his actions more pathetic
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