ROBBEN ADMITIU QUE MERGULHOU, E NÃO SERÁ PUNIDO

Netherlands’ Robben Absolved of Wrongdoing (New York Times)

O Holandês Robben foi absolvido de irregularidade, e não será punido.

World Cup 2014: FIFA Will Not Discipline Arjen Robben for Diving 

FIFA said it would not open disciplinary proceedings against the Netherlands forward Arjen Robben, who admitted diving to try to win a penalty kick in Sunday’s victory over Mexico.

Robben was awarded a penalty in the 90th minute after the referee determined he was tripped by defender Rafael Márquez only yards from Mexico’s goal. Klaas Jan Huntelaar buried the subsequent penalty, which gave the Netherlands a dramatic 2-1 victory that eliminated Mexico.

Speaking with Dutch television afterward, Robben, who has a history of embellishing contact to win fouls and free kicks, acknowledged diving in the area during the game — just not on the play that preceded the winning goal.

Robben’s comments appeared to be an admission that he had violated Article 57 of FIFA’s disciplinary code, which states that any player “who violates the principles of fair play or whose behavior is unsporting in any other way may be subject to sanctions.”FIFA used the clause to punish Costa Rica’s Joel Campbell after he faked an injury in a World Cup qualifier against the United States last fall. Campbell’s acting in that incident earned United States defender Matt Besler a yellow card, but Campbell was issued only a reprimand.

“The one at the end was a clear penalty, but I have to admit there was an incident in the first half where I did dive,” Robben said. “I must apologize. I should not be doing that.” 

But on Monday a FIFA spokeswoman said that the disciplinary body could only act retroactively to look into “serious infringements” unseen by the referee. Instead, the spokeswoman, Delia Fischer, emphasized that referees were trained to spot diving and to issue yellow cards for it, and she appealed to “respect the spirit of fair play, which is the overarching message we have to all participants.”

FIFA’s president, Sepp Blatter, is on record supporting using video evidence after the fact to punish players who dive. Writing in a FIFA magazine in February, he said: “Video evidence can be used for serious breaches of the principle of fair play such as brawling, spitting at opponents, verbal insults and racist slurs, or for incorrectly awarded red or yellow cards. In cases such as these we must make use of the avenues already open to us and intervene after the event if necessary. 

“In this context, we should include the faking of injury, intentional diving or time-wasting in our considerations.”

Mexico’s coach, Miguel Herrera, was furious with the decision to award the late penalty to the Netherlands on Sunday, but that was only the loudest of his complaints about the referee, Pedro Proenca of Portugal.

But FIFA said Monday that those comments remained Blatter’s opinion, not policy. 

“Today, it was the man with the whistle who eliminated us from the World Cup,” Herrera fumed in statements that could draw their own rebuke from FIFA. He added, “Out of four matches, we had three matches where the refereeing was disastrous.”

Mexico had several run-ins with the officials in Brazil. One of the linesmen in its first game was removed from the officials pool after blowing two offside calls in the Mexicans’ first game, a tight 1-0 win over Cameroon. Each decision cost Mexico what replays showed was a clear goal.