At last!! The FA announced today that retrospective punishment for diving will be introduced from next season - a two match ban if a case is confirmed. We have been pressing for this for two years, and reached 695 signatures. No doubt the strong feelings expressed in so many comments from across the world will have helped towards this welcome change. Thank you to every one of you who took the time to sign and add your thoughts. It has taken a long time for the FA to act on this, but now that they have I think we will see the punishment applied worldwide before too long. Hopefully this form of cheating will soon be a thing of the past and youngsters can be dazzled again by the true skills of the game. Full text of FA statement with all the detail is as follows: The Football Association has voted in favour of introducing retrospective bans for players who dive or feign injury from next season. The new offence of 'successful deception of a match official' is based on a law already used in Scotland and was approved at the FA's annual general meeting at Wembley on Thursday. Incidents will be reviewed by a panel comprised of an ex-manager, ex-player and an ex-referee, and they watch the footage independently. If they are unanimous in believing a player deceived a match official, the sanction will be a two-match ban. This process is similar to the one already used for red-card offences which were missed at the time but caught on camera, and the cases will be fast-tracked. In a statement, the FA said: "Although attempts to deceive the referee by feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled is a cautionable offence for unsporting behaviour, the fact that the act of simulation has succeeded in deceiving a match official and, therefore, led to a penalty and/or dismissal, justifies a more severe penalty which would act as a deterrent." If a player admits to a charge of successfully deceiving an official, or is found to have done so, any yellow or red card given to an opposing player, as a result of the deceit, can be rescinded. The new rule will apply across English football and has been supported by the English Football League, the League Managers Association, the Premier League and the Professional Footballers' Association.