England's FA chief Brian Barwick is urging FIFA to clamp down on diving in soccer by allowing cheats to be punished retrospectively.

"We are in on-going discussion with FIFA on retrospective disciplinary action and have raised diving as a priority area where video evidence could be used," Barwick told the FA website yesterday.

The issue of diving has hit the headlines in England with top players, most recently Chelsea's Didier Drogba and Asier Del Horno, but also Arsenal's Robert Pires and Man. United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Ruud van Nistelrooy, accused of going to ground too easily to earn a free-kick.

"We insisted that clamping down on diving be made a priority area at this summer's World Cup," Barwick said.

Barwick said it would be difficult to punish diving with a red card. "This would require a big change to the laws of the game which are universal and cannot be amended without FIFA's support," he said.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said this week he believed cheats were prospering because they could not be sent off directly.