Oumar Niasse's diving charge highlights toothlessness of new rules on simulation

To the list of Oumar Niasse’s shortcomings as a footballer, we can add subtle simulation. In diving to win a decisive penalty for Everton in their game against Crystal Palace on Saturday, Niasse ensured that he would become the first player to be charged for deceiving a match official in the Premier League.

While the Senegalese striker can still appeal the unanimous decision of an FA disciplinary panel to charge him with diving, there seems little point to him contesting the issue considering the minuscule likelihood that he will be successful. Still, whatever minor suspension comes his way will have been worth it as far as his team are concerned.

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While reports suggest Niasse could be hit with a two match-ban for his theatrical swan dive over the place where he presumed Scott Dann’s leg would be, that is nothing compared with the potential significance of Everton salvaging a draw at Selhurst Park.

The Toffees are one of the bottom five teams who Palace will have to overhaul to stay up this season, and as such are in direct competition with the South Londoners when it comes to remaining in the Premier League. Needless to say, the financial implications of relegation would be enormous for both clubs and everyone on their respective wage bills. For Niasse, a two-game ban for diving is a small price to pay for a point which could feasibly be the difference between survival and relegation – with all the inconvenient turmoil and slashed wages the latter could bring.

With the stakes so high and the disincentives so small, the Niasse case highlights the toothlessness of the new rules on simulation. On the one hand, the FA have made it clear that they want to eliminate diving from the game with a system of retroactive sanctions, but on the other, those sanctions have so little weight that they will likely make no practical difference.

Were Everton to lose the point that was dishonestly gained at Selhurst on account of a retroactive punishment, then the FA’s campaign against diving might start to make headway. As things are, the incentives to dive still far outweigh the drawbacks from the perspective of the offender – goals are scored, points are gained and relegations are made less likely, while the sanctions system is still destined to miss the minor infractions which allow the culture of diving to thrive.

READ MORE: Niasse charged with diving and faces two-match ban

This is all based on the presumption that it is productive to attempt to eradicate diving. There are those who would argue that simulation is inherent to modern football – a skill, a strength, an artform even – and that it should be accepted as an inevitability even if referees should be empowered to punish it where they can. Whatever the philosophical and moral implications of diving, the FA’s new provisions for retrospective action suggest they want to see it ended. Unfortunately, a few matches on the sidelines is no great deterrent for a tactic which – as Oumar Niasse and Everton know – often yields such rich rewards.