Why is football always so slow to react? Cheating is an obvious problem, one of football’s ugliest habits, and yet the authorities do nothing, just wait for the outrage and headlines to die down. Then we all carry on as before, knowing that it will not be long before the next high-profile example crops up. Eduardo da Silva in August, David Ngog on Monday — who’s next?

When Uefa did finally act by charging Eduardo, the Arsenal striker, it quickly backed down because it didn’t want to make him a scapegoat. But perhaps that is exactly what is needed: a high-profile punishment to make players think twice.

Players cheat because they can get away with it, pure and simple. It’s a tactic that works and can be decisive in finely balanced matches that may turn on the decision of a referee who must make split-second judgments and is ready to give fouls for minimal physical contact.

The authorities must change this culture of cheating by making it in players’ interests to stay honest. The time to act is now because the next generation of footballers has grown up in the climate of dishonesty that has developed in recent seasons.

They are going to be fabulous divers, even better than the present lot. I watch kids’ football sometimes and I’m amazed by their antics.

Lee Carsley made a fuss about Ngog’s reaction to his tackle, but all players and managers know that you win some, you lose some. Maybe next week, a Birmingham City forward will go down easily in the box and get a penalty, and his team-mates will congratulate him. You can bet a manager is privately more likely to rebuke a player for not going down than praise him for staying on his feet.

Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, admitted that it should not have been a penalty, but do you think he told off Ngog and warned him not to cheat again? Or do you think he was secretly grateful that his striker is a con artist?

The only way to eradicate cheating is to punish it. The odd yellow card for simulation is not enough of a deterrent. The FA should treat diving like violent conduct and hand out three-match bans for offenders. If a referee misses a dive during a game, a video panel should review contentious incidents.

Then managers may tell their players: “Don’t go over, I can’t afford to lose you for three games.” And the players may cut out this cheating that’s poisoning the game.