• Champions League

Actors embarrassing the game, says Ferdinand

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has waded into the diving debate by declaring that he finds some of his fellow professionals' playacting "embarrassing".

Arsene Wenger accused Arjen Robben of being "a very good diver" after Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich, with the winger going down dramatically in the box under a challenge from Santi Cazorla at the Allianz Arena before winning a late penalty, which Thomas Muller missed.

Ferdinand, who attended England's 29-18 victory over Wales in rugby's Six Nations international tournament on Sunday, took to Twitter during the match to voice his complaints.

After going to the Eng vs Wales rugby game..watching a footballer roll around after a little tap on the face as if poll axed is embarrassing— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) March 11, 2014

Ferdinand may have been referring to an incident when Bayern's Javi Martinez writhed in apparent agony after being accidentally caught by Arsenal goalscorer Lukas Podolski.

In September, Ferdinand called for the game's governing bodies to introduce retrospective punishment for diving.

He said then: "It's got to happen across Europe and the world, not just in our league. You go into the Champions League and you have been told in the Premier League you are not meant to dive, then you get players from other countries who simulate."

United manager David Moyes is another who has been vocal in his opposition to diving and reprimanded winger Ashley Young after he was booked for simulation in their September win over Crystal Palace.

"I don't want my players diving," Moyes had said. "I don't want anybody doing it. I'll definitely say to Ash it's not what I want."

However, United's Adnan Januzaj has already been cautioned three times for diving, the second highest total in Premier League history.

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