>(overdue SNIP)
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>>>>But jeez, it's not a hanging offense. Do you think he's the first player in history to accept a bad call by the refs? A baseball player who slides into home and is tagged out, but the ump calls him safe - should he jump up and argue that he was out? A tennis player who knows the ball was in but the ref calls it out in his favour - should he argue that he lost the point? Come on. It's the way sport has always been played. You get a break that you know you shouldn't have gotten, you accept it and go on. If you get a bad call against you, you accept it and go on. These guys are supposed to be professionals. If all it takes is a bad call to break them, they don't deserve to be there.
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>>>As I opined in another branch - it should be! Given also the importance of the tournament.
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>>>The examples you cite are of getting away with an advantageous accident or fluke - not blatantly and purposefully cheating.
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>>Personally I'd be happy to see players found guilty of cheating (and there is usually plenty of TV evidence) suspended from playing for several games and hit with a big fine (big enough to hurt)
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>But isn't there a difference between premeditated cheating, like doping or corking a bat, and a play that happens on the spur of the moment? On this particular play Maradona was alone in front of the goal, the ball was up too high for him to head in, and so he hit it with his hand. I'm sure he didn't plot out this scenario. It just happened and instinct took over. Ideally one of the two referees who were in position to see the play would have called the foul and awarded England a free kick. Unfortunately they missed the call. IMO suspensions and fines would be a great overreaction to an impulsive act.

Absolutely. Refs make bad calls, they make good calls. If you're going to suspend and fine players every time a ref makes a bad call, the whole game would be unplayable. That's life in professional sports. The whole idea that this is cheating rather than simply taking advantage of a bad call is ridiculous.