Whilst looking over my last post as it sat neatly and quite long on my blog with its new theme I saw a gaping hole. That’s right I had not mentioned anything about the France V Ireland match.
Let me start off by congratulating the ~Irish team on a great game. So many people wrote you off prior to kick off and i’m glad that you showed them that we can compete with what they would class as one of the best teams in the world.
I’m disgusted at Henry’s handball and what it meant to the Irish team and people. If things were reversed however I couldn’t say that I wouldn’t be delighted that Ireland had qualified for the World Cup. While I don’t like what Henry did, I understand that in the heat of the moment we all do things that we shouldn’t. Neither can I blame the referee who I thought overall had a good match. It saddens me to think that cheating and deceitful behaviour (because lets remember that Henry didn’t own up at the time) can decide such an important match. Put aside all the money the FAI lose out on, put aside that the fans are disappointed and think of the players. I’m not talking about all of them although it must hurt them all. I’m talking about the likes of Kevin Kilbane, Shay Given Damien Duff, and possibly Robbie Keane. For these players it is most likely their last chance to play in a World Cup. The fans can watch again in four years time and cheer on the boys in green with the same passion and gusto we’ve always had. I’m sure the FAI will survive without the few bob. . . . . they’ve done so before. For these players though it was their last chance and to think that cheating has robbed them of this is sickening.
While I’m not a fan of FIFA or UEFA I think on this occasion them may have done us a favour by not allowing a replay. Regardless of anything else we cannot guarantee that w would have outplayed France again. That time if we lost it would be on our heads. This way France go to the World Cup with a dark cloud over their heads. Their whole World Cup will be tainted and stained to the degree that even winning the World Cup couldn’t salvage it.
What this incident highlights is the need for video-replay technology. I understand that in every match there are hundreds of contentious decisions. I know that it would be impossible to play football properly if every decision were allowed to be challenged. We’ve the introduction of this technology in other sports, Rugby and Tennis being the main ones that come to mind. In Rugby as far as I know, it is up to the official to call for a replay. In Tennis they are allowed to go to Hawkeye for set amount of challenges. In tennis the introduction has far from detracted from the sport. Most tennis fans would go so far as to say that it can add to a match. I believe that it should be used in only the most serious situations, penalty claims where the referee or his officials cannot say for certain whether or not there should be one given, goal claims and even for some situations bad tackles. The amount that can be used should be pre-determined. I’m not saying that what I’ve proposed is ideal but it can be debated and refined before implementation. Maybe the introduction of this technology will signal the return of honesty back into the beautiful game?
P.S For those of you wondering about the title it’s an Irish word which means French person. Another translation however is Rat. I felt that in these circumstances it was appropriate because even though I wasn’t going totally ape about what happened I’m still Irish!
