▁that ▁de cept ive ▁behaviour ▁should ▁occur ▁when ▁the ▁potential ▁pay offs ▁out we igh ▁the ▁potential ▁costs ▁( or ▁pun ish ments ). ▁Their ▁aim ▁was ▁to ▁disc ern ▁when ▁and ▁where ▁div ing ▁is ▁likely ▁to ▁occur , ▁with ▁the ▁aim ▁of ▁ident ifying ▁ways ▁to ▁stop ▁it . ▁ ▁The ▁research ers ▁watched ▁hundreds ▁of ▁hours ▁of ▁matches ▁across ▁ 6 ▁European ▁professional ▁le agues ▁and ▁found ▁that ▁div ing ▁is ▁more ▁likely ▁to ▁occur ▁a ) ▁near ▁the ▁off ensive ▁goal ▁and ▁b ) ▁when ▁the ▁match ▁is ▁tied . ▁None ▁of ▁the ▁ 1 6 9 ▁div es ▁seen ▁in ▁the ▁study ▁were ▁pun ished . ▁ ▁It ▁was ▁also ▁found ▁that ▁div ing ▁was ▁more ▁common ▁in ▁le agues ▁where ▁it ▁was ▁reward ed ▁most ▁– ▁meaning ▁that ▁the ▁more ▁often ▁players ▁were ▁likely ▁to ▁get ▁free ▁k icks ▁or ▁pen alt ies ▁out ▁of ▁a ▁d ive , ▁the ▁more ▁often ▁they ▁div ed . ▁This ▁suggests ▁that ▁the ▁benefits ▁of ▁div ing ▁are ▁far ▁out we igh ing ▁the ▁costs , ▁and ▁the ▁only ▁way ▁to ▁reduce ▁div ing ▁in ▁football ▁is ▁by ▁increasing ▁the ▁ability ▁of ▁ref ere es ▁to ▁detect ▁div es ▁and ▁by ▁increasing ▁the ▁pun ishment ▁associated ▁with ▁them . ▁ ▁" Some ▁progress ive ▁professional ▁le agues , ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁Australian ▁A - Le ague ▁and ▁the ▁American ▁M LS ▁have ▁already ▁started ▁hand ing ▁down ▁pun ish ments ▁for ▁players ▁found ▁guilty ▁of ▁div ing . ▁This ▁is