An open letter to Barcelona's Neymar on diving

I saw you play for the first time when I was watching the 2013 Confederations Cup opener in which Brazil dismantled Japan. Your sweetly struck goal clearly showcased your quality. As the tournament progressed, your skills and attributes continued to be highlighted. Against Mexico, you volleyed a deflected cross into the top right corner as you announced yourself perfectly on the big stage, and I was amongst the growing list of your admirers. It was after a long time that I started liking a non-Liverpool player.

The expected big money move to Barcelona came in the summer and I was really excited to see a player of your calibre in the UEFA Champions League. But at that time I did not realize that I was set to be disappointed.

Barcelona is a team of world class players who play some amazing football. But I really do not enjoy following them as most of the players in the Catalan team such as Busquets, Pedro, Alves, Fabregas indulge in diving or play acting. I am someone who loves football for what it is and when the results are manipulated by some incidents I am really disappointed.

I am not sure if you were always a diver as I did not see this side of Neymar in the Confederations Cup. I would like to give you the benefit of the doubt. I think that when you struggled to adapt to La Liga initially, you started resorting to diving antics. A player of your calibre should not stoop so low. I believe that you have enough quality to come back from a bad patch of form.

You don’t have to look far for inspiration. I have never seen Messi dive. Inspite of the fact that Messi is the most fouled player in La Liga, he still does not resort to diving. Messi is respected by a higher amount of football fans in the world mainly because of his ability and not because of his antics.

Being a die-hard Stevie G fan, I have always been a fan of people who show class at all times. You are currently not in that category but the expected Balloon d’Or Winner Franck Ribery certainly is. Ronaldo is one of the few players who has stopped diving and still has continued in a rich vein of form, and I think he can be a perfect role model for you.

I believe that you have the talent to become the best player in the world sooner rather than later. But I also believe that you can do that without enhancing your diving skills. I sympathize with you to some extent when you have to dive just to get away from rash challenges as players from opposing teams are constantly trying to injure you. But there have been many instances when you have dived or resorted to playacting when in reality your opponents were playing fairly. Such instances not only hurt your reputation but also create an aversion to the game for the football fans.

The decision is yours to make: should you stop diving and be a Messi/Iniesta or continue diving and become the future Nani/Young/Busquets. I really hope that you make the right call. I would like to watch the future Neymar for his skills and not for his playacting.

- A fan