Le main de Dieu

Let’s get one thing clear. Ireland should and deserve to feel very aggrieved and hard done by after being denied a place by the French at the world cup next year. Some may say that they were not good enough but the sheer fact is, they were robbed of a place in South Africa 2010 because of Thierry Henry using his hand to control the ball and assist William Gallas who scored the winner in extra time. In the post match reaction in the sports pages as well as front in some places, Henry is painted as the villain who has committed the most heinous of crimes and maybe deservedly so. Without his intervention France would not have scored leaving the two teams to carry on contesting the match. Instead, it was Raymond Domenech’s side who qualified albeit with as much dignity as some c-list celebrity auditioning themselves for reality television. There is obvious anger about Henry’s deception because of the consequences but it should not be forgotten that Ireland had a few chances themselves to win the match and a place at the finals. Henry’s “Main de dieu” was a shameless act that once again brings the sportsmanship of football into question but the fact is all sport is open to cheating and I cannot think of one player who would not have done the same. In a sad indictment of the sport of football maybe Ireland were possibly guilty of not trying enough to con the referee as such. There will be those who will not shed too many tears at the injustice against the Irish, mainly the television broadcasters and Fifa. Both look to make enviable profits by being able to present and show the best teams and players in the world. Imagine a world cup with no Cristiano Ronaldo or no Lionel Messi compared to one with no Robbie Keane. Hardly a commercial nightmare for Mr Blatter or the broadcaster bosses. While Henry will continue to receive much of the attention and criticism because of his actions some of the notice surely needs to be put towards Fifa for the need of video technology to make sure that injustices like these can be wiped out of the game. In today’s money and business orientated football industry if something as small as a hand can create huge and catastrophic repercussions, as FAI (football association Ireland) Chief John Delaney will be finding out now, then surely Fifa should look to limit the damage some bad officiating can cause. One thing is certain, if Wednesday’s match is anything to go by then the World cup next year should certainly throw up its fair share of incidents, Unless Fifa take action. I wouldn’t count on it though.