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Soccer fans hate the diving. Neymar's become a punchline even in his native land. It's also technically illegal under the laws of the game. One of the things fans got pissed about this World Cup was not enough referees throwing up a yellow card to punish divers.
On the other hand, it's a very tiny % of players who do it, and - not coincidentally - it's the smaller, faster players who tend to do it the most. Neymar may be the most notorious diver, but he's also the player who legit gets the most shit kicked out of him in any given game. Ultimately it starts as a defence mechanism for the smaller, quicker, more entertaining players to try and get more protection from the referee against the bigger, slower defenders who often can't stop the superstars legitimately so they stick a boot in. Then some take it too far.
Solution: Weight divisions in soccer.
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