France's Thierry Henry escapes Fifa ban over handball

[NL7]

Striker Thierry Henry will not be punished by Fifa for his handball in France's World Cup finals play-off against the Republic of Ireland.

The world governing body's disciplinary committee concluded there was "no legal foundation" to deal with the case.

The Barcelona striker handled the ball twice in the build-up to the decisive extra-time goal from William Gallas.

The Republic did not qualify for the 2010 World Cup and Fifa rejected a request to have the match replayed.

Previously, Fifa president Sepp Blatter said former Arsenal player Henry was guilty of "blatant unfair playing" but stopped short of calling for him to be punished.

Henry's defence argued successfully that Fifa's disciplinary code does not give the committee the ability to punish such incidents, something the committee accepted.

"Handling the ball cannot be regarded as a serious infringement as stipulated in the Fifa disciplinary code," said a statement.

"There is no other legal text that would allow the committee to impose sanctions for any incidents missed by match officials."

Henry's handball caused an international furore, with the Republic claiming they had been "cheated" out of a place in the World Cup and demanding a replay.

The extra-time goal meant the match in Paris ended 1-1, with France going through 2-1 on aggregate.

Henry, 32, apologised over the incident and later admitted it left him contemplating quitting international football.

On the back of the controversy surrounding the incident, Fifa met at Cape Town to consider goal-line technology and extra referees at the World Cup.

However, the sport's governing body decided against using additional referees in South Africa and have instead opted to set up an inquiry into the benefits of video technology and extra officials.

BBC Sport - Football - France's Thierry Henry escapes Fifa ban over handball

 

[BIG-HOL]

thats a fuckin joke when it was clear to see from what i seen that it was hand to ball!

the rules on this defo need changed to make sure it doesn't happen in any league, not just for the world cup!

 

[bod]

fkin sh#te...........fifa fair play my a#se

 

[langland]

I really don't see what the fuss is all about.

99% of all footballers try to cheat all the time.

When it goes for them they celebrate.

When it goes against them they cry about it.

Don't blame the officials.

Don't blame lack of technology.

Blame the coaches, the managers and the players.

This Henry enquiry was just a publicity stunt, and he was never going to get punished.

 

[Mick]

While it's sad that henry needed to cheat to win, I am a long time fan of henry and always will be he is a real footballer and had everything in his locker.

But would we be moaning if rooney / gerrard / defoe did it and kept us in the world cup lol.

I do not think so lol... I think henry should get a small ban like miss the first game to set an example for cheating.... but I do not think that we should all jump on the band wagon lol as the words "pot" "kettle" "black" spring to mind.

Mickie

 

[davidh]

ffs drogba does it all the time

 

[dizy007]

scumplater and pratini they only punish if british clubs or teams involve up fifa

 

[The Dentist]

scumplater and pratini they only punish if british clubs or teams involve up fifa

You are very right there but what do you expect to be done?

The guy handled the ball. I've seen stronger tackles made against the french in that game or against other teams before the france game, how about all of that?

Dont get me wrong, i'd have rather the french went out but you have to look at this from an open point of view. Yes the handball resulted in a goal, but so does the kick off. every decision in a football match affects what happens. yeah the player should be punihed, but punished according to what he did and at the end of the day it was a handball.

 

[Raven24]

The way I see it is quite simple, as ever, yes Henry handballed for the goal but he immediately called for the match to be replayed which Sepp Blatter outright refused to do on the grounds of fairness (of all things) so how can Blatter then punish Henry for this when he himself took the decision to refuse Ireland a rematch after being cheated out of the World Cup, of which he played a part in.

And Mickie is right, we wouldn't be complaining if Gerrard or Rooney knocked one in to get us to the World Cup (didn't need it heh!) but we would be screaming blue murder if it happened to us and rightly so. So we need some perspective here, what's right is right, and that game was a specialist case nothing is quite black and white and under them circumstances that game should have been replayed somehow, some way - but one thing this fiasco proves is that them Sky cams need to be brought into the game and video refs need applying like in Super League rugby - this is 2010 ffs not 1912!

 

[nintendo]

he should have been suspended or fined. France dont deserve to go through.