Riyadh, May 10 (IANS): Football players who fool referees to score goals or to obtain penalties or fouls are committing a sin, two Saudi religious scholars have said.

"Cheating is deceiving and usurping other people's rights and as such it is wrong. This is not allowed in Islam and it is haram," the Gulf News daily quoted Abullah Al Motlaq and Shaikh Abdullah Al Maniaa as saying.

"The wrongdoing is compounded when the player swears by god to support his lie. Players should avoid deceiving others, cheating and lying and should set good examples for young people," they said.

The use of negative attitude to win a match was an "ominous indication of the decline in moral values", and the transformation of sports from honest competition to bigotry and fanaticism, they said.

"The continuation of these trends poses a threat to the values and morals of our children who like sports and may ultimately make religious scholars issue a fatwa banning attending football matches to avoid the negative practices by players," the scholars said.

They urged players and parents, educators and religious scholars to help promote good values and morals and to tackle the negative phenomena in sports.