Forum Topic

The Hand of Frog

Am I the only person who thinks that the biggest loser in all of this is Thierry Henry. The Irish will have a chance to qualify for more World Cups but he will never get his reputation back. The French will be dogged by the 'cheat' tag in South Africa and were so poor against the Irish that there is no way they will make an impression on the competition next year.It's a real tragedy because I think he was the greatest player I have ever seen play - I'd add that I never saw Pele, Best, Maradonna so I'm not saying he is the best just the best I've seen. I was always impressed with the way Henry conducted himself and think he is as much a victim in this as the Irish team.

Ellen Kearney ● 5639d1 Comments

Having now just about calmed down and able to think about this rationally I actually have a degree of sympathy with FIFA. Their aim is to keep the game played in the World Cup as close as possible to the game played in the park on a Sunday morning. This is laudable and, I think, correct.The introduction of video evidence during games would create a different sort of sport. The simple solution is simply to say to referees in instances like this to formally ask a player alleged to have committed an offence if he did it. If he says no and later it proves that he did he is liable to a substantial ban.What happened in Paris was daft. The referee never asked Thierry Henry whether he did or not. He might have denied it but at least we'd be able to call him a liar as well as a cheat.

Paul Corcoran ● 5634d