因世界杯期间各路球星的假摔和犯规动作被很多学生模仿，英国一家小学的校长决定禁止学生在校园里踢足球。这一禁令让很多热爱足球的学生很失落，不过校长表示，做这样的决定并不是学校抵制足球运动，而是考虑到校园可以提供的球场面积实在是难以让学生们充分享受足球的乐趣。

The poor sportsmanship at this year's World Cup tournament, such as the shirt-pulling which led to this goal for the USA team being disallowed¹, is said to have prompted an outbreak of unnecessary roughness in playground matches.

A primary school has banned football after its pupils began copying the cheating and fouling²（犯规，弄脏） displayed by their World Cup heroes.

Headmistress Pat Fay has faced criticism after introducing the playground ban two days before Spain triumphed over Holland in the final of the tournament.

She claims pupils began 'fouling, cheating and shirt pulling' after watching their role models misbehave（作弊） on television.

All 83 children are not allowed to play the game in the school yard during breaktime and before and after school.

Miss Fay, of Plymtree CofE Primary School, near Cullompton, Devon, believes that a culture of cheating at the World Cup caused a 'decline in standards' amongst her pupils.

She said: 'We are a Church of England school and we very much value developing a caring attitude among our pupils.

'We felt that playground football was causing a decline in those standards and we noticed that things got worse during the World Cup.

'Children watched their heroes and role models on the television and then copied the fouling and the shirt pulling and the cheating that went on.

'They saw famous players behaving badly and when they got into the playground thought it was OK to kick another player or grab their jumper and pull them over.

'We also had an incident when a teacher was hit in the face with a ball so hard it almost knocked her out.'

On July 9 Miss Fay posted a message on the school noticeboard informing pupils and parents of a blanket ban on football.

It read: 'Recreational football is now banned at Plymtree (even in the mornings and after school) -it is not safe and it causes too much bad feeling.'

To replace the lunchtime football sessions pupils will now be supervised several times each week at a nearby playing field - but only during the summer months.

But the move has angered parents and upset pupils, who were crowned local champions in a tournament last season.

Carpenter Dave Bunker, 44, whose son Tom, 11, attends the school, runs a local under-11s football team.

He said: 'I can see why football has been banned because we have got such a small playground that it can get a bit feisty（活跃的，好争吵的） .

'But when you have got all the boys wanting to play football it becomes a difficult situation. I feel for those boys because they just love the game.

'The final of the World Cup was just bully³ tactics（策略，战术） and when children see that they naturally want to copy it. The diving and fouling was abysmal⁴（深不可测的，糟透的） .'

Parent governor Siddy Langley believes that the World Cup inspired children who would not normally play football to get involved.

She said: 'It brings out the sportsman in all of us, so it possibly got a bit rowdier.'

Miss Fay added: 'We are not against football, in fact we have lots of good footballers and four or five boys who have real potential.

'A few parents have said to us that they understand the decision. They realise it is difficult with a playground the size of a tennis court for 83 pupils.'