Burnley manager Sean Dyche says players “can cheat at least once a game” as he criticised the Premier League’s rules on simulation after defeat at Arsenal.
Dyche, a long-standing advocate of harsher punishments for diving, believes the threat of a yellow card does not offer enough of a deterrent.
On the changes he would like to see, Dyche said: “Simple. Ban them. It would be out of football within a month.
“It’s not about Arsenal. It’s about the greater good of the game.”
Speaking after the 2-1 defeat, Dyche – who did not single out any Arsenal player – said he attended a recent Premier League meeting where, regarding simulation, he was told “the worst that can happen is a yellow card”.
He added: “Have you ever thought about that? I don’t know any sport where they tell you that you can cheat once a game. I’ve never seen that in sport before.
“The game is in a really poor state with players literally falling on the floor. If you’re a manager, why would you want to lose your best players? It’s got to the level where it’s every week now.”
In 2015 Dyche claimed one prominent manager told him to “move with the times” when it came to diving in the modern game, while in 2016 the Clarets boss called for retrospective bans which would eradicate diving from football “in six months”.
Left frustrated, a year later he claimed “no-one cares” about trying to eradicate diving from English football – and last season added “no-one wants to deal with it”.
On Saturday he said: “I’m the only one who ever talks about it. I find that really weird.
“Tony Adams, when he was captain here (at Arsenal). Can you imagine? Do you think he would have accepted it? Do you think he would have accepted it if it was his own players, let alone the opposition? I doubt it.”
