Flopping is faking an injury or making it look like contact was worse than it was in the sport of soccer. Players flop or dive to draw attention and try to get penalty shots or get their opponents saddled with a penalty card. Penalty cards can lead to or indicate an ejection and a penalty shot is a much easier opportunity to score in a sport where goals are usually infrequent. Soccer fans, coaches and the media have called for stricter measures to prevent flopping and clean up the sport from faking or acting.
Step 1
Train and educate soccer officials and referees so they can better judge a flop or fake injury. By studying game film on players and teams, referees can get a better idea of calls missed or calls that should not have been made.
Step 2
Enforce the current rules and punish the floppers. Faking an injury, flopping or complaining can be grounds for a yellow or red card under the rules, so properly enforcing these rules can help cut down on flopping. FIFA, soccer's international governing body, instructed referees to crack down on flopping or simulation before the 2010 World Cup, but the tournament still saw record numbers of yellow cards and ejections.
Step 3
Change the rules or develop new rules to further discourage flopping. Former England star Gary Lineker suggests developing a pink card for floppers instead of the current yellow and red that are used for other violations. Pink cards could then result in a suspension or force a team to play short by one man, both of which would discourage players from trying to flop.
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