Europe's finest footballers will be under more scrutiny than ever in the forthcoming knockout rounds of the Champions League.
The prying eyes of television will be used for the first time to punish the notorious divers who have been conning referees for years. European football's governing body will test the idea of retrospectively punishing offenders who escape sanctions on the field when the Champions League resumes on February 22.
"We will deal with incidents where the referee has been clearly deceived," UEFA's disciplinary head Peter Limacher said.
"Winning a penalty with a dive is cheating the referee and the opposition."
UEFA will use video evidence and if there is a blatant case to be answered, the disciplinary body will start proceedings with the aim of getting the player suspended or fined.
Whether these measures will actually eradicate this scourge of the modern game remains to be seen but UEFA should be applauded for taking this initiative.
Video technology, if used properly and it does not disrupt the flow of the game, can only improve the sport's appeal. Because if the threat of a suspension - fines would be no deterrent to footballers - makes any prospective diver think twice about trying to deceive the referee, then the measure will have served its purpose.
UEFA however should go after defenders, too. If the truth be said, for every man who tries to gain a penalty or get an opponent sent off by deceit there is a defender who would use every trick in the book to stop a goal. "Catching defenders is more complicated," Limacher conceded.
"We're looking into it but I promise you that UEFA will do everything in its power to charge offenders."
Diego Maradona, whose 'Hand of God' incident in Mexico in 1986 earned him lasting notoriety, does have a point when he says he is no more a cheat than the dozens of furtive defenders who manhandled him so savagely during his career.
The Argentine legend once said that FIFA "was not doing enough to protect the game's gifted players. It's not just me. Other great strikers like Marco van Basten are not being allowed to play good football."
That was in 1993, 10 years after Maradona's left foot was brutally smashed by Andoni Goicoechea, the 'Butcher of Bilbao' in the mother of all X-rated tackles.
And a few months after Van Basten was forced out of football because his ankles had become so weak from relentless punishment he could barely walk.
FIFA used video evidence for the first time at the 1994 World Cup when Italy fullback Mauro Tassotti received an eight-match ban for breaking Spanish striker Luis Enrique's nose with an elbow in an off-the-ball incident that was missed by the referee.
It would be nice to get rid of the game's divers but unscrupulous defenders who constantly and flagrantly flout the rules should go on video trial too.