What to do with Alan Shearer? Should he who has retired from international football following England's premature exit from Euro 2000 be commended for his honesty or condemned for his lack of it?
Shearer, remember, is the fellow who pleaded guilty this week to having committed what UEFA would call the sin of simulation in his side's 3-2 defeat by Romania in Charleroi.
The striker, to use layman's language, took a dive between a couple of opponents in the hope of getting a free-kick close to their penalty box when England were toiling to contain them at 2-2.
He admitted openly, and with no obvious sense of shame, that he did what he did for his country. He was desperate that they should progress to the last eight of the competition and, to that end, prepared to compromise himself.
Is this what England expects of its icons? Should John Bull be proud of a guy who is willing to sacrifice his integrity for the sake of gaining an unfair advantage over his rivals?
Shearer, in fact, was just the latest in a long line of players at the European Championships to sign the Cheats' Charter, although there can't be many more like him who would acknowledge publicly having done so.
It's a sad fact of these sporting times that every game appears now to have its share of sharks and charlatans. Those in boxing, horse racing and athletics, for example, we have known about for a long time. Those in cricket, we are learning much more about all of a sudden.
This naive observer used to think that golf, at least, was above any chicanery among its participants. Then a friend who knows better revealed that some of the top players in the world are recognised by their own as tricksters.
But, of course, such types abound in football, with television fingering them one by one at Euro 2000 as the tournament moves towards its climactic stages with this weekend's quarter-final ties.
He who takes a dive, like Shearer did on Tuesday, is among the most pathetic, as could be seen in the video presentation which UEFA made in Brussels on Thursday as they announced their latest ballot of referees.
One particular clip showed a Romanian - possibly Gheorghe Hagi although, because of the camera angle, it was difficult to tell - falling theatrically out of a challenge when, quite clearly, he hadn't been touched.
Ken Ridden, the Englishman on the Referee Committee, commented drolly that this hoaxer's action was worthy of nine marks out of ten in the swimming pool but nought out of ten on the football field.
Of course, we've witnessed all forms of cheating in this competition, among them players trying to get others booked or even sent off for no good reason. We've also seen countless examples of jersey-pulling which, in the view of this critic, is especially sneaky.
Yellow cards are too good for the perpetrators of such offences. They should be off the field, along with those felons whose tackles are designed to hurt or maim, if UEFA's Fair Play ethic is to be upheld.
It goes without saying that the far greater emphasis so far has been on the excitement and entertainment produced by the 16 competing nations who, as of Wednesday, were cut to half that number.
But, for every glorious moment, there has been an inglorious one provided by some player or other attempting to dupe a referee at the intended expense of a hapless opponent.
Shearer owned up to having joined their ranks in the Romanian game although, at the time, he protested vehemently that he had been brought down illegally.
Those who might wish to remember him for his great contribution to international football, underpinned as it was by 30 goals in 63 games, were left to ponder something unsavoury about him.
Honest or dishonest? The jury is liable to return a split verdict on the question. The great pity is that he gave them cause in the first place to consider it.
Jorg might have saved Erich
The Germans call him Sir Erich because he is as courteous and dignified as they imagine an English gentleman to be.
There's also the hint of the old Prussian officer about Herr Ribbeck, what with the honourable way in which he resigned his commission this week after his side's lamentable failure at Euro 2000.
Never since the European Championships of 1984, when they finished behind Spain and Portugal in their group with only three points, had Germany failed to qualify for the latter stages of a major competition.
They did worse this time, ending up at the bottom of their section with just one point and one goal from a fortuitous draw with Romania. Was Ribbeck entirely to blame?
Of course not. Time will show that he inherited the German national team at one of the lowest points in their history. They are woefully short of good players, especially the creative sort.
They seem even to lack the strength of character for which they were famed and are weighed down by many huge egos. Yet they still couldn't find a place for Jorg Albertz.
This thought necessarily is offered in hindsight: if the big-hitting Rangers midfielder couldn't have offered them something worthwhile at Euro 2000, then Dick Advocaat isn't a Dutchman.
Just one of his goals could have lifted them out of their mediocrity. Just one of his sweet passes could have gone some way to doing the same.
The German view, of course, is that Albertz plays in a sub-standard league and, while there may be much truth in that, it doesn't mean to say that he is sub-standard.
Sir Erich should have given the Ibrox player his chance, instead of ignoring him from the outset of the qualifying programme. Had he done so, then who knows? He might yet be in a job.
