The Thierry Henry Hand Ball Saga
Thierry Henry is a free man. Many fans believe Thierry Henry deserved to be penalized for his hand ball that secured a spot for France in the World Cup and sent Ireland home ending their dreams of playing in South Africa.
As much as I wanted to see the luck of the Irish pull through, I have to agree with this decision. There are several comparisons I’ve been discussing that make it clear for me.
Let’s take Michael Jordan – If MJ traveled in a championship game and then went on to hit the game winner, would there ever be discussion of a penalty/fine for him? Absolutely not! That’s what the referees are for and their job is to make the call. Maybe MJ knew he was walking, but that’s not his fault.
According to FIFA’s rules, they couldn’t find anything that would give them a legal right to fine Henry. Basically, they agreed that a hand ball is NOT worthy of any sort of fine. The refs should face a fine before Henry should – it’s their job to make the calls.
If FIFA were able to find a reason to punish Henry, it could have kept him on the sidelines during the World Cup this summer. This would have been a terrible decision. Nobody wants to see the best soccer tournament in the World with a legend on the side line (well, unless you’re playing France!).
Playing college ball in the States, I’ve been part of some terrible calls. Some were in our favor and some against us. We never blamed the player – we would go straight to the ref and let him know what he missed! I understand the refs are human and they’ll miss some calls!
Ireland put in a request to FIFA to replay this match, but I knew this wouldn’t happen. They can’t turn the call over at this point, so that means that can’t find a reason to replay the game. Some people would like to see FIFA develop a review system, but that could really ruin the flow of a game. There are other options, like the addition of a ref on the end-lines which I think is a better solution.
Anyone who has ever played soccer has tried some sneaky things in a game before. Some may argue it’s bad sportsmanship, but some will say it’s part of the game. I can’t say what Henry did was wrong since its part of the game. I think its unfair, but unfortunately that’s part of the game!
This author is a huge soccer fan. He enjoys playing and watching soccer on his free time. Read more on his reviews on the latest soccer supplies and youth soccer shoes at his blog.
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