Quiniou: Hansson should have questioned Henry

FRANCE’S most famous referee, Joel Quiniou, has attacked Thierry Henry for his handball goal against Ireland, but also claimed that referee Martin Hansson could have disallowed the effort had he asked the Barcelona star if there had been an infringement.

The Swedish ref was perfectly within his rights to ask Henry if he had handled the ball even though he had given the goal; and if Henry had been as honest on the pitch as he has been off it, then Hansson could have disallowed the goal at any time before play re-started.

“The referee can’t see what happened, but I think the linesman was better placed to see it,” said Quiniou.

“But the referee was very doubtful, and this ties in with the job of being a referee. Several Irish players lifted their hands up and asked for the goal to be ruled out. That’s why the referee went to see the linesman, and the linesman allowed it.

“But the doubt may have led to some kind of decision. He could have gone to see Henry and asked him the question, ‘Mister Henry, did you handle it?’

“As long as the game hasn’t restarted you can always go back on a decision. He can stop the clock and go and see Thierry Henry, who then has to face up to his responsibilities.”

As an official who has refereed more World Cup matches than anyone else, eight in all, and taken part in three World Cup finals (Mexico 86, Italia 90 and USA 94), Quiniou is uniquely placed to offer a view on Hansson’s decision and indeed how he will have been feeling since the game.

Quiniou compared Henry’s handball to the Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ that secured Argentina’s place in the 1986 World Cup final.

Back then, the Frenchman was first on the scene to console Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser, when he broke down in tears at his hotel after realising his mistake.

“What saddens me the most is that this notion of these model professionals at the highest level,” Quiniou went on. “I said this after the 1986 World Cup, when Ben Asser was put on trial. I was at the Azteca stadium, I felt sorry for the referee who was crying his eyes out in his hotel room after the match. We’re taught this culture of ‘Wasn’t seen, never happened’... so everything is possible on the pitch and as long as the referee hasn’t seen it, there’s no reason to punish anyone. That’s what nauseates me today.

“But in those days there was not the same media coverage, there wasn’t the internet. Now you have tens of millions of clicks to see what Thierry Henry did and that hurts. It portrays a bad image whether you like or not. And it annoys me that us referees can be blamed for something which should never have happened.” Quiniou reserved his final judgement for his national team, saying: “I am happy to see the French team go to the World Cup, but I am very upset at the way they did it. I would rather they had won on penalties. France did not deserve to win or to qualify in this way.”