A video has been making the rounds of YouTube showing a Brazilian player practicing what has been frowned upon in the history of contact sports.
The video shows Brazilian defender Dani Alves feigning injury from a supposed kick from head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. Buzzfeed obtained a GIF image of the actual act that showed Alves dropping and clutching his left knee following Scolari's sideway kick.
Brazil's opener in the 2014 World Cup started on a sour note after its rival Croatia has complained that the yellow card call issued by Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura to Croatian defender Dejan Lovren for Brazilian striker Fred's flop was uncalled for, with Croatia coach Niko Kovac saying that there was no contact of any kind obvious even on international broadcast. FIFA has already jumped in on the debate, with Massimo Busacca backing Nishimura's decision to award Brazil a penalty kick for the apparent flop.
If it were to believe that Brazil has employed this kind of tactic in times of, say, in its match with Croatia, need to break the tie, then the national team would certainly succumbed to what is perceived to be an unsportsmanship conduct. But a five year-old study has supported the use of such tactic by some players in professional leagues in Europe and South America. According to Cleveland.com, researchers at an Israeli university discovered during an analysis of 286 penalty kicks that occurred during professional league, European and World Cup championships that there is an 85% success rate on penalties from flops or simulations.
A Baltimore Sun commentator said that players, should above all, respect the game and play fair. He wrote, "In numerous cases, flopping may give a player a strategic advantage, but what these athletes should understand is that they're embarrassing themselves and the sport they love. Flopping is a cheap trick that should not be tolerated by FIFA, soccer fans, or the players who play the right way."
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