Foul play — the tell-tale signs of diving

Flying through the air with chest puffed out and arms spread wide: the so-called “archer’s bow” position is among tell-tale signs that a football player is faking a foul, according to a study on Wednesday.

A four-point referees’ guide to “diving” was unveiled by British psychologist Dr. Paul Morris, detailing how players make a spectacle of themselves to win a penalty or earn an opponent a yellow or red card.

The main obvious signs are:

— Clutching their body where they have not been hit;

— Taking an extra roll when they hit the ground;

— Taking fully controlled strides after being tackled before falling;

— Holding up both arms in the air, with open palms, chest thrust out, legs bent at the knee in an “archer’s bow” position.

Morris, who specialises in how people show emotions and intentions, said: “Referees have a very difficult job and given the demands of the task, they do it remarkably well.

“We think even experienced professionals could enhance their decision-making by studying the categories of deceptive behaviour we have identified,” added Morris, of the Universiy of Portsmouth in southern England.

Morris said the “archer’s bow” was one of the most revealing as the body would not make such a “peculiar” shape in a natural fall.

“In most dishonest tackles the behaviour itself does not indicate dishonesty, the deception is revealed in the timing and co-ordination of the behaviours,” he explained.

“But one action is unique to a faked fall – the archer’s bow.

“This occurs in many dives but biomechanically it does not occur in a natural fall.

“Instead, instinctively the arms either go down in an attempt to cushion the fall or out to the side for balance.”

He employed more than 30 experienced amateur footballers to stage a scenario taken from a football coaching manual.

Attackers were asked to dribble the ball past approaching defenders and then deceptively exaggerate the effects of a tackle to varying degrees.

The study, published in the Springer Journal of Nonverbal Behaviour, showed that the 50 observers consistently judged the level of exaggeration correctly.

Referees and officials overseeing top-class matches find it harder to judge, as the recent case of Arsenal striker Eduardo shows.

He was banned for two Champions League matches for apparently diving to win a penalty in the English side’s 3-1 victory over Celtic last month after going down under a challenge from Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc.

But the appeals body of European football’s governing body UEFA overturned the ban on Monday, saying “it was not established to the panel’s satisfaction that the referee had been deceived.”