On Wedesday, Arsenal's Eduardo da Silva drew a dubious penalty that led to the first goal in the Gunners' 3-1 win over Celtic to advance to the group stage of Champions League play. UEFA is investigating footage of the play to determine if Eduardo dived deliberately. "We are reviewing the match to see whether a disciplinary investigation should be launched," UEFA said Thursday. Eduardo could be banned for two matches if found guilty.

The play drew harsh criticism from the Scottish FA. "We have shown the courage to use retrospective punishment when it comes to simulation," Scottish Football Association chief executive Gordon Smith said. "I would urge UEFA to do so in this instance. Everything that can be done to stamp it out must be done. Starting right now ... taking action would be a much more powerful deterrent and would send the right message to players everywhere." Smith also suggested that the incident reinforces his call for in-game TV replays. "I don't think that I have received enough support in my efforts to eradicate what I believe to be one of the most serious threats to the integrity of football," Smith said.

Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger acknowledged after the game that Eduardo got a lucky call. "But I do not go as far to say Eduardo dived -- he went down, for what reason I do not know," Wenger said. "Is it acceptable? I never asked in my life any guy to dive to win a penalty but sometimes the players go down because there is no other way to escape the tackling of the keeper. Sometimes they dive."

 

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