Jan1820105 p.m.
Lacking the balls to do the right thing
It should come as no surprise to hear that no action is going to be taken against Thierry Henry for his infamous 'Hand of Frog' incident.
Did anyone seriously think that Fifa would make a stand for common decency and fair play by breaking new ground and punishing Henry for his handball in France's World Cup finals play-off against the Republic of Ireland? Fifa deemed there was no "no legal foundation" to deal with the case, but what about a moral one for the good of the game?
"Handling the ball cannot be regarded as a serious infringement as stipulated in the Fifa disciplinary code," said the Fifa statement. How serious do they want it when the outcome of the match was settled by this one stinking incident?
A player can make two mistimed tackles and be dismissed from the field of play and be banned from subsequent matches, whereas someone who takes a chance and cheats and gets away with it during the game, subsequently gets away with it retrospectively too by the lack of balls shown by the game's governing body.
There was an opportunity to send out a signal to the handball cheats, divers, theatrical performers, fakers, that any attempts to pull a fast one would not be tolerated and would be dealt with afterwards. Potentially banning the cheats or even changing the outcome of matches could be a way forward if we really want the 'beautiful game' to be 'beautiful' once more.
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Comments (4)
jamieB 'FIFA and UEFA have a very bad track record when it comes to dealing with anything outside of the norm. Take the fight against racism and the small fines handed out over the last couple of years when teams and nations should have been banned. It's a tarnished game, I'd even go as far as saying it's corrupt run by people who have no love for it...' added 18th Jan 2010
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jamieB 'FIFA and UEFA have a very bad track record when it comes to dealing with anything outside of the norm. Take the fight against racism and the small fines handed out over the last couple of years when teams and nations should have been banned. It's a tarnished game, I'd even go as far as saying it's corrupt run by people who have no love for it...' added 18th Jan 2010
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Johnf 'It is a tough call because other games will have been changed by similar events and so where do you start? Perhaps looking back restrospectively, which this was, is not the way, but a line in the sand needs to be drawn for all games forward. But it relies then on the governing bodies sticking to it and fining/banning big names/clubs/nations. Then the problem starts when Man Utd or Italy or the like have points deducted.' added 19th Jan 2010
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twammers 'I share your sentiment Simon in terms of morale outrage but football hasn't been a beautiful game for a long time now - commerce and greed put paid to that a long time ago. there is still some skill to admire so take solice in that for now but don't expect FIFA's self serving head to appear from it's ineffectual a**e any time soon. ' added 19th Jan 2010
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