FIFA hand Henry a free pass

AND so the greatest Irish football sensation since Saipan ends not with a bang but a whimper.

FIFA have announced that Thierry Henry will not be punished for his notorious handball in last November’s World Cup qualification play-off against the Republic of Ireland, a decision which means that Henry will not now miss any of France’s games in the forthcoming finals in South Africa.

The world governing body’s disciplinary committee concluded that there was “no legal foundation” for them to deal with the case.

FIFA said in a statement: “The disciplinary committee reached the conclusion that there was no legal foundation for the committee t consider the case because handling the ball cannot be regarded as a serious infringement as stipulated in article 77a of the FIFA disciplinary code. There is no other legal text that would allow the committee to impose sanctions for any incidents missed by match officials.”

The FAI did not officially comment on the decision but a source pointed out the association had never asked for a retrospective sanction to be imposed on the player for his illegal part in the William Gallas goal which ensured that France would qualify for South Africa at the expense of Ireland.

But Republic defender Sean St Ledger believes FIFA have set a dangerous precedent by not punishing Henry.

“Obviously I don’t want players to get banned, I’m not a fan of that,” he told the BBC. “But (the decision) promotes ‘if you can get away with it, do it’.

“I’ve seen (the incident) again today and I still think he intentionally, the second time, handballed it. I still feel a bit hurt from it.”

Meanwhile, UEFA president Michel Platini has launched an impassioned outburst on the state of refereeing in football, his comments clearly designed to coincide with the FIFA hearing on the Thierry Henry incident.

Platini believes that the incident proves that something needs to change in the way matches are officiated but even though he says he feels for Irish football supporters, he has insisted video technology will never happen, and has never even been discussed among Fifa’s top brass.

“No-one is to blame for the Henry handball incident,” said Platini. “Twenty years ago, only the goalkeeper and the players would have seen it. Now, it’s three billion people! Yes, I can understand the Irish fans – you know, in 1982, I understood the French people when we were screwed by the referee, who did not see (West Germany goalkeeper) Harald Schumacher’s foul on Patrick Battiston (at the 1982 World Cup quarter-final). It’s like this every Sunday! Let’s change refereeing! The solution is easy: more referees on the pitch. The debate about the use of the video is not relevant. We have never spoken about it at FIFA: how could we speak about it to people in stadia where there isn’t even electricity? How do you put 20 cameras in place? Who pays for it?”

Platini scoffed at Arsene Wenger’s idea of replacing throw-ins with free-kicks.

“That idea is a joke,” said Platini. “Today, the only thing that you have to change is refereeing. Refereeing is dead!”