There’s been a great debate recently regarding the Thierry Henry hand ball situation against Ireland. Many people believe that Thierry Henry should have been punished for this move in the World Cup qualifying match that will send France to South Africa, while Ireland goes home, shattering their goals of playing in the 2010 World Cup. Well, a decision has been made and Henry is off the hook.
I was really hoping that Ireland would win, but I agree with FIFA in the decision they made regarding this matter. Over the past few months, I’ve been chatting with many friends about this matter and we’ve come up with some great comparisons that help make this extremely clear.
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.
It would have been a shame to see a superstar of Henry’s caliber on the sidelines during the World Cup this summer. The punishment he was facing could have kept him out of the World Cup for several games. This is the most elite soccer tournament in the World and it would not be the same without his presence.
I’ve played in many competitive soccer games over the years at the NCAA level. There were some heart-breaking calls against my team and for my team. The only person we could blame was the ref. It’s all a part of the game.
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.
As a soccer player, I’ve witnessed many sneaky tactics during games and have pulled some off myself. This is all a part of the game, although some may say it’s bad sportsmanship. I hate to see what Henry did determine the outcome of the game (and more), but again, it’s part of the game. He took a chance of getting a card!
This author is a huge soccer fan. He enjoys playing and watching soccer on his free time. Check out his reviews on the latest soccer supplies and youth soccer shoes at his blog.
Title: Should Thierry Henry Have Been Punished?
Duration: 0:00
Submited by: Vincent Hu
Category: Soccer
Added on: February 2nd, 2010
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