Ex-PGMOL Chief Accuses Arsenal Star of Diving Against Man City and Calls for VAR Rule Change
The 2026 Community Shield saw Arsenal comfortably defeat Manchester City 3-0, but one incident involving Riccardo Calafiori has sparked criticism from former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett.
Arsenal took control from the opening seconds, with Calafiori scoring after just 24 seconds. Kai Havertz doubled their advantage before half-time, while Martin Ødegaard completed the scoring shortly after the restart.
However, Hackett focused on an incident involving Calafiori and Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov. Calafiori went down inside the box while attempting to win a penalty, but referee Sam Barrott judged that there had been no meaningful contact and booked the Arsenal defender for simulation.
Hackett praised Barrott for taking action against the alleged dive, arguing that referees must be more consistent when punishing simulation.
He said players who deliberately go to ground should be treated as attempting to deceive officials and argued that diving damages the image of football.
Hackett also called for VAR to play a bigger role. His suggestion is that when a player claims for a penalty, VAR rules against the appeal and the incident is clearly deemed simulation, the referee should then issue a yellow card.
According to Hackett, consistent punishment would discourage players from diving and help eliminate the problem from the game.
The debate over how diving should be punished could become even more significant as football continues to rely heavily on VAR.
