"SOMETIMES I dive, sometimes I stand," admitted Chelsea striker Didier Drogba after his side's 2-0 home victory over Manchester City. Talk about opening a can of worms.

What Fifa, UEFA and the FA will make of Drogba's admission is open to debate but it should provide football's beaurocrats with a perfect opportunity to introduce a watershed and stamp out blatant gamesmanship.

Controversy once again surrounded the Ivory Coast frontman and his side at the weekend. This time Drogba confessed he had handled the ball prior to his club's second goal against Stuart Pearce's side at Stamford Bridge.

His nonchalant admission proved that unless a ruling is introduced to cut out intentional acts of deception the cheating disease will continue to spread to an uncontrollable epidemic.

Drogba attempted a similar feat at Fulham the week before only for the game's match officials to catch him out when he handled prior to scoring.

But the 28-year-old's theatrics, and Chelsea's attempts to stretch gamesmanship, hit an unprecedented nadir this week.

BBC pundit and former Tottenham striker Garth Crooks was apoplectic after the Londoner's FA Cup sixth round tie against Newcastle last week.

The usually unflappable Crooks could barely contain his disdain at Chelsea's shenanigan masterclass.

He had just been witness to Drogba, Asier Del Hornio and Shaun Wright-Phillips fain injury after imaginary fouls and, he demanded a crackdown.

Crooks isn't the first to demand such action and won't be the last.

Chelsea, of course, aren't the only side to push gamesmanship to the limit. In recent times former Premiership champions Man. United and Arsenal have all crossed the boundaries of what would be deemed 'fair play' in the eyes of the football public.

Most pundits point the finger at the influx of foreign players in the British game. Our European and South American brethren do intend to go to ground a lot easier but, their British counterparts have been just as quick to follow.

But to say 'Johnny Foreigner' is responsible for the malaise undermining the 'beautiful game' is a simplistic statement.

Gamesmanship has been endemic in football ever since the football authorities drew up the rules and regulations during Queen Victoria's reign. The Football Association had to amend those initial rules, shortly after, due to players' misinterpretation and an unswerving desire to win at all costs. Free-kicks, penalties and offsides were introduced as a punishing consequence.

Obviously the game has moved on since the Victorian age but the desire to win is still as strong.

Up to now nothing has been done to stop players kidding referees and match officials.

But calls to curb certain individuals' propensity to cheat their opponents has gathered more pace this season than any other. Discussions on how it should be stamped out or what penalties should be imposed or introduced have yet to ascertained.

A player being fined would be a fruitless exercise when you consider a week's salary is nothing but pocket money for today's top stars. A tougher proposal would be required to put a stop to the perpetual histrionics.

One suggestion to stamp out gamesmanship could involve an automatic one-match ban if a player deliberately commits a blatant offence/foul. If the player is then found guilty once again the ban could be extended to two and three matches, etc. Further punishments, for persistent offenders, could include points deducted from the player's team. Maybe one point for every four offenses.

The paradox to this argument, of course, is that players are currently acting within the rules of the game. It is up to the legislators to put a stop to it before it gets out of hand.

Drogba, by the way, quickly retracted his original statement, however, when he said: "No, I don't dive." Empirical evidence suggests otherwise Didier.