Diving, officially known as simulation, is probably as old as the game itself.
Through the years there have been a large supply of incidents involving players deliberately acting to mislead officials with the intention to gain advantages in games, with consequences ranging from the outrageously unjust to the bizarrely comical.
Here are just a few of the most famous incidents involving diving.
Eduardo da Silva in Arsenal vs Celtic, August 2009
Eduardo, Arsenal's Brazilian-turned-Croatian centre forward, grabbed the headlines for the wrong reasons in the Gunners' mid-week Champions League clash against Celtic.
Arsenal carried a 2-0 advantage into the game, and after 28 minutes, with the game locked at 0-0, Eduardo was played in by Emmanuel Eboue. As Artur Boruc came rushing out, Eduardo went flying over the Celtic keeper and the Spanish referee Manuel Gonzalez awarded a penalty.
As Eduardo stroked in the spot-kick, TV replays showed there appeared to be no contact between Boruc and Eduardo. UEFA has as a result charged Eduardo with 'deceiving the referee,' a charge that could lead to a two-match ban for the striker.
Emmanuel Eboue in Arsenal vs Barcelona, May 2006
The afore-mentioned Emmanuel Eboue was himself accused of diving in the Champions League final between Arsenal and Barcelona in 2006, Arsenal's first ever Champions League final appearance.
With Arsenal down to 10 men after only 18 minutes, Emmanuel Eboue's darting run down the right on the 36th minute appeared to have been theatrically terminated by himself as soon as Carles Puyol, the Barcelona centre-back, approached.
The referee thought it was a foul, and Arsenal scored from the resultant free-kick as Sol Campbell powered a header past Victor Valdez.
It proved a futile dive for Eboue, as Barcelona came from behind to win the final 2-1, thanks to second-half goals from Samuel Eto'o and Juliano Belletti.
Francesco Totti in South Korea vs Italy, June 2002
It was a controversial moment in a controversial game.
Playing at home in front of a sell-out crowd watching their team competing in their first ever World Cup second round match, South Korea went into extra-time against Italy with the score locked at 1-1.
13 minutes into extra-time, AS Roma and Italy forward Francesco Totti surged into the South Korea penalty area from the right and, after seemingly colliding with South Korea defender Song Chong-Gug, went to ground.
When the Ecuadorian referee Byron Moreno blew his whistle, most, if not all, would have expected an Italian spot-kick. The world's disbelief at his decision to send off Totti (who had already been booked earlier) was short-lived, however, as replays showed the Italian appeared to have dived.
The match ended up 2-1 to South Korea as Ahn Jung-Hwan atoned for his penalty miss on the 116th minute, towering highest to head the ball past Buffon and South Korea into the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
Rivaldo in Brazil vs Turkey, June 2002
It was the 92nd minute of the final group stage game and Brazil was winning 2-1.
As Brazil midfielder Rivaldo was standing near the corner flag waiting to take a corner from the right, Turkey defender Hakan Unsal, out of frustration no doubt, kicked the ball hard at the Brazilian midfielder and it hit Rivaldo's shin.
The Brazilian reacted by instantaneously collapsing onto the ground, rolling about while holding his head and wearing an expression of excruciating pain. It looked unmistakably like he had just been shot, only for the gushing of blood usually associated with such an injury to be confusingly absent.
The result was a straight red card for Hakan Unsal and a $7,350 fine for Rivaldo, the self-proclaimed 'victim' of this incident who was found guilty of simulation. 'I am not sorry about anything,' the Brazilian said.
Jurgen Klinsmann in West Germany vs Argentina, July 1990
West Germany striker Jurgen Klinsmann was accused of a spectacular dive in the 1990 World Cup final against Argentina. With the game evenly balanced at 0-0, Klinsmann picked up the ball from the right and ran toward the sliding tackle of Argentina's Pedro Monzon.
Monzon's tackle was studs up and probably a bookable, if not dismissable, offense. But the contact was so minimal, and Klinsmann flew over the Argentine and subsequently rolled on the ground with such elegant fluency that public opinion was, to this date, firmly swayed toward a dive.
Pedro Monzon was sent off and West Germany won by a penalty scored soon after the incident.
Roberto Rojas in Brazil vs Chile, September 1989
The most notorious piece of simulation in football happened at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium in a 1990 World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Chile.
After 69 minutes, when Chile were 1-0 down and on their way out of the World Cup, Roberto Rojas, the Chilean goalkeeper, could be seen collapsed on the ground in a pile of blood in his own penalty area, with his Chilean teammates identifying the offending item as a piece of firework, thrown by a member of the Brazilian crowd, still alight and lying about a metre away from the collapsed Rojas.
The referee's decision was to abandon the game.
However, when FIFA reviewed the video evidence of the match, the incident emerged as a farcical episode of simulation. Rojas, seeing the fireworks landing near him, could be seen flinging himself onto the blaze while cutting open a small capsule of blood with a razor blade, both items having been hidden in his gloves beforehand.
Rojas then splashed the blood onto his forehead, and theatrical genius did the rest.
What did Roberto Rojas get for his trouble? FIFA awarded Brazil a 2-0 win. Chile was banned from the following 1994 United States World Cup. And the disgraced goalkeeper was initially banned for life, though pardoned 12 years later.
Notable Absentees
Reading the above list would no doubt leave a large section of football fans screaming - where is Cristiano Ronaldo?
Ronaldo is indeed conspicuous by his absence, and that is not for the lack of trying on his part.
The list of incidents where Ronaldo has been accused of cheating and diving is simply too lengthy and would very much justify a separate article dealing exclusively with them.
Definitely one for the near future.
