The Art of Diving was one of the topics that we covered on the day of tomfoolery that is April 1st. Writer for the day Jonathan White explained how the best get away with it and what to do to make sure you don’t get caught. Not getting caught is going to get a trifle harder for soccer players – and, before you ask, the following isn’t a late April Fools.
London’s Evening Standard is reporting that a shin pad has been developed that sends a signal to the referee when the player has been touched. The revolutionary pads have a built in sensory magnet and alarm that will let the referee know when the player is touched.
Andy Shaw, from design firm Small Fry, said: “Each pad has two sensors and magnets. One sensor is to confirm another player is very close and one is an impact sensor. When both sensors are triggered they set the alarm off. If a player tries to cheat and kick himself in the shins, the proximity sensor will know it was not another player and will not trigger.
“In the future we might have the pads linked to a screen at the side of the pitch so the referee knows instantly whether there was actually a foul.”
Whether it will stop players flagrantly cheating remains to be seen but it could be an interesting development for those sports books that regular offer novelty odds on soccer.
Although it claims to be foolproof, these systems rarely are and there is bound to be a double kick mechanism that disables the device. First player to perfect this move…as Ronaldo’s not here we’ll go for Fernando “honest ref I never dived” Torres and an honorary mention for Robert Pires. If he’s able to get the Zimmer frame into full working order then he’s the overwhelming favourite.
