Suarez a serial diver, says Scharner

West Bromwich Albion midfielder Paul Scharner has become the latest football figure to accuse Liverpool striker Luis Suarez of diving.

Suarez won a spot-kick early on in his side’s 2-0 win over the Baggies on Saturday after going down under a challenge from Jerome Thomas.

Scharner, who was close to the incident at the time, believes the Uruguayan made the most of the contact with Thomas and that he routinely cons officials into awarding penalties.

“It was a nice dive for the penalty,” the Austrian told reporters.

“He’s very good at winning penalties. He’s one of the best on the planet, in fact.”

“I had a good view of it. If that’s a penalty, then you will find 1,500 penalties are given in every match.”

Scharner’s comments echo those of teammate Billy Jones, who revealed members of his side had warned each other of the dangers of tackling Suarez in the penalty area before the match.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson also accused the Liverpool striker of diving earlier in the season, prompting Kenny Dalglish to come out in defence of the player.