Eduardo diving row: UEFA President Michel Platini admits he would have dived

UEFA president Michael Platini last night admitted he would have cheated like Arsenal striker Eduardo - and said that is why something has to be done to stamp it out.

The former French skipper and World Cup coach will back the likely two-match ban faced by the Gunners' frontman for his blatant dive against Celtic.

But Platini revealed his own murky past on the issue and said that showed exactly why his plan for two extra officials behind the goals was the only way to change the dive culture.

Platini, in the Juventus side that beat Liverpool in the 1985 Heysel Final, said: “I know why players do it - because I’ve dived myself.

“I did it because I knew the referee wouldn’t see me trying it on and also because there were no cameras either. If we thought we could get away with it, we would.”

Platini added: “I can tell you, in the World Cup semi-final in 1982 against Germany, if I could have dived to get a penalty and win the game I would have done it, to make up for what happened between Patrick Battiston and Toni Schumacher.

“I hate injustice - but I just couldn’t get into the box. Mind you, knowing the referee, who was Italian, even if I’d had both my legs chopped off in the box he wouldn’t have given it!

“However, with five officials, you can’t do it because you will be spotted - and if you aren’t, then it’s the fault of the officials.”

The new system, with an extra “additional assistant referee“ standing eight yards outside the keeper’s right-hand post, would have ensured the official in the ideal spot to see Eduardo’s dive.

UEFA will trial it in this season’s revamped Europa Cup, awaiting approval from FIFA and the International Football Board in March for a global roll-out at senior level.

And Platini said: “We want to use our competition to test this idea.

“The referees have to take up a different position at free-kicks and corners, covering the other side of the penalty box, but it means you have three officials all with clearer views.

“All the additional officials will be miked up to the referee, to let him know straight away what they have seen in the box.

“What is important is that the referee makes the final decisions but the extra assistants will help him make the right ones more easily.

“If there are five referees there will be less simulation and less mistakes and one day players will give up simulating because referees will see them.

“For years players have cheated because the referees were not of a good enough quality. They cheat because they know the referee will not see it.

“I am convinced if you have referees close by, that will prevent players from simulating and players will take the right decision.”

Platini’s faith in his new system did not prevent Scottish FA chief executive Gordon Smith calling for new technology to be deployed.

Smith said: “Since I came into this post, I have raised the issue of simulation time and time again. 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.

“What happened at Arsenal showed exactly why we must take this issue seriously. We have shown the courage to use retrospective punishment when it comes to simulation and I would urge UEFA to do so in this instance.

“I see absolutely no reason at all why we cannot use technology to assist referees - particularly in live games.                           

“Some people say that TV evidence would damage the flow of a game, but I believe football would adopt a similar approach to tennis in offering a set number of challenges.”

But Platini, who has pushed the idea as a personal project, believes the extra officials will also end the debate over needing goalline technology and dismissed the comparison of football with tennis.

“Tennis is about the line, pure and simple,” he said. “It is not the same as football, not a contact sport, and if you use cameras to decide a free-kick, then you can go back to the foul before the foul, that brought the corner, that ended up with the free-kick. It doesn’t work.

“It’s not just a matter of more eyes but it’s fundamental to know if the ball has crossed the line or not and the extra officials will be in the perfect place to see,” he added.

“Everything else in football has changed but for 100 years there has been no progress in refereeing.This is the chance for that to change.”