No Bombing Or Diving Allowed Next Season

SFA chief executive Gordon Smith was a critic of cheating when he was a pundit on the TV and now that he is in a position to do something about it he is determined to do just that. He wants to see officials taking action against diving players and insists "blatant" acts of cheating will result in disciplinary action, even retrospectively, next season. However, with accusations flying around against Rangers' Kevin Thomson following his apparent dive during Saturday's Old Firm game, there is no possibility of action being taken against divers this term as the SFA must wait until this season is over before introducing retrospective punishments. Thomson has been at pains to distance himself from being labelled a cheat and insists he did not attempt to deceive referee Stuart Dougal when he threw himself past a challenge from Celtic's Georgios Samaras on the edge of the penalty area, and siad that he is "not a con artist".

Smith said today: "Simulation in the game is something we are determined to stamp out. From next season we'll be introducing a system that will allow us to retrospectively punish instances of simulation when the evidence allows us to do so. We have led the way on this issue. It was the SFA that raised that matter at the recent International Football Association Board meeting. We've been monitoring instances of simulation this season and we will be adjusting our disciplinary procedures for next season to enable action to be taken against blatant acts of simulation."