WHY all the fuss about El-Hadji Diouf? Players dive all the time and nine times out of 10 the media turns a blind eye.

Trying to win penalties by foul means has happened for the last 30 years and will go on for another 30 because nothing will ever be done to stop it.

The reason the incident at Ewood Park, on Monday night, has caused a storm is not because of what happened, but because of who was involved.

There has been a media campaign to get Diouf ever since he spat in the face of Arjen de Zeeuw in November.

You can understand that. Spitting in someone's face is the most disgusting thing a player can do on the field and Diouf deserves no sympathy over the criticism.

The spitting also undoubtedly multiplied the criticism Diouf received for conning the referee into awarding a penalty against Blackburn.

Had the culprit been a less controversial figure, like Kevin Nolan or Henrik Pedersen, the incident would have been forgotten by the next day.

But when it is Diouf, it's a case of light the blue touch paper and stand well back.

Another reason Monday night's case attracted such over-the-top coverage is because the game was shown live on television.

As the the night's only action, all the top soccer writers were there. It was the only show in town and, as the most controversial player on show, Diouf was the main focus of attention.

Diouf shouldn't dive, but neither should the multitude of his fellow Premiership professionals who wouldn't lose a wink of sleep over an act of cheating.

Does anyone really think Robbie Savage would not have done exactly the same thing if he had had the chance? Or Robert Pires or Michael Owen. Do me a favour.

Savage confirmed as much the following day when he supported Diouf and told the critics to get off the Wanderers man's back.

Cheats prosper in football for one simple reason: because they can.