Biased referees give privileges to the English players...

[Mr Arsenal]

Aguero is claiming that foreign players are getting a rough ride from officials when it comes to diving while English players get the benefit of the doubt. I believe that's what he's saying but it's best to read his exact words below.

Does he have a point? Discuss...

Sergio Aguero has accused Barclays Premier League referees of anti-foreigner bias when it comes to spotting diver.

The Manchester City striker is convinced that imports are more likely to get a raw deal over penalty appeals.

‘We just play our game and the referee’s job is to know who is tricking him and who is not,’ said Aguero. ‘There is a little bit of privilege with players who come from this country. Here in England, there are almost as many foreign players as English players and it’s not right that some have a privilege that others don’t.

‘If they do, it’s not good for anyone.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz2816HWgAf

[BradyMagic]

No.

[Craigie]

Did anyone notice Jenkinson dive? World class dive, just what we've been missing.

He's right it's true but i think it has more to do with the British not standing for play acting rather than being anti forign, because even when some players get fouled they fall down so dramatically and roll around anyway you know they are pretending about that so it clouds the credibility of the foul too.

[shamrockgooner]

Damien Duff is one of the most prolific divers in the PL but I've not once ever heard anyone point it out. It's probably because of the total disregard he shows for his body when he dives as he hits the ground like a sack of spuds every time. The foreign players tend to exaggerate their dives more which is why they get pulled on it more often as some of their movements going down just seem so unnatural the ref doesn't believe them.

[BradyMagic]

Unless it's so obviously a penalty, more often than not referees just guess and hope for the best and even ignoring things like contact and so on, the fact players have been booked for diving when they have actually been fouled goes to prove this.

There's no bias in favour of English players but there is one for star names and big teams and that applies regardless of where they are from, which would explain why Man United get so many unjustified penalties whether they be from RvN, Ronaldo, Rooney or Young and was why Pires got tagged a diver when we got a homer penalty to a lowly team like Portsmouth at a time when we were the best team in the country.

Quite ironic though when Aguero brings this up after the foul for the penalty given against Zabeleta was on Riise and he summed up the foreign players attitude with a bit of a Freudian slip by saying "It's the referee's job to know who is tricking him and who is not" and call me old fashioned but there's me thinking it was actually his job to oversee the running of the game and that the laws are adhered to and upheld. Maybe if the players weren't trying to trick the referees then it wouldn't be so much of a problem.

Quite amusing too about his claim that the English players get away with it because there are more of them when it's common knowledge they only make up a third of the PL and are outnumbered 2 to 1 by foreign players.

[Midfield Maestro]

No.

Too short, didn't read.

[Jakey Boy]

Damien Duff is one of the most prolific divers in the PL but I've not once ever heard anyone point it out. It's probably because of the total disregard he shows for his body when he dives as he hits the ground like a sack of spuds every time. The foreign players tend to exaggerate their dives more which is why they get pulled on it more often as some of their movements going down just seem so unnatural the ref doesn't believe them.

Damien Duff is a foreigner

[ProudGunner]

Damien Duff is a foreigner

Actually he is an Alien, he's Irish.

[shamrockgooner]

Damien Duff is a foreigner

Fair cop guv.

[ProudGunner]

Aguerro is right but its a subconscious thing as I dont think the refs do this on purpose.

With clear cut decisions the ref will award a penalty regardless of who it is as long as he had a clear view and he was absolutely sure.

But we know full well that half of the time the ref is just guessing and making a judgement call. In decisions like this it makes a difference what nationality you are, whether you are playing home or away, how big the team is, how big the team you are playing against is etc.

All of this play on the mind of the ref and can influence his decision making subconsciously. All of this is happening in his head in a split second. He is not consciously thinking "oh, I am not sure if that is a penalty but its Gerrard that has gone over so I will just give him the benefit of the doubt as he is English and award a penalty".

This is expected behaviour and in line with human nature and happens in every league.

[james_19742000]

The problem is 'reputation' by reputation foreign players have always used diving as part of the game, and personally its something which I want to see stamped out, 30 years ago diving wasnt that common, we were more likely to see players square up to each other and have a scrap and have the ref ignore it while those players sorted out there differences, but these days, the 'hard' edge of the game has minimalised, and in some ways that is understandable, so therefore things such as diving, play acting etc have become part of the game as it is easier for a player to 'fake' a foul, injury etc as the rules of the game has changed, it is mainly the foreign players that have bought this into the game and unfortunately its something that British players are now starting to pick up on and attempt, and in many ways can you blame them if there foreign colleagues are getting away with it then why shouldnt they? However, it appears that diving is now starting to be frowned upon in a much heavier way than it was a few years ago so those players that have historically used it as part of the game are rightly so being scrutinised by ref's a lot more!

[BradyMagic]

I'm not sure you can say both that Aguero is right and then say referees are guessing.

When they give a penalty then more often than not do you even think they are always aware which player has either committed the foul or been the victim of it? Whether they give it or not they make instant decisions where sometimes it seems like they couldn't be quick enough to give it and when they don't give it play continues anyway. It's not like they stop the game and have a think about it before giving it like a cricket umpire can on LBW, nor can referees have too long a think while play continues and bring it back for the penalty so I very much doubt they even know which players were involved half of the time, let alone what nationality they are.

On the other hand, once play has been stopped for a foul or penalty and referees have to make the decision whether to punish with cards or not then that's another matter, but even then I still think a player's reputation either good or bad helps or hinders him as to whether he gets the benefit of the doubt or not or whether he plays for a big team, but the game has stopped by then and the referee can identify the player, has time to weight up his decision and can even get help in making it too.

On the cards issue do you honestly think players like Lee Cattermole and Kark Henry get the same benefit of the doubt as say Javier Hernandez or David Silva because it's an English versus foreign thing?