Time to use video technology and punish cheats properly after hand of Henry

IN THE aftermath of Thierry Henry’s handball against the Republic of Ireland there should be two pressing points for FIFA to consider – introducing video technology in games and finding a way to sufficiently punish cheating.

Everyone who saw the TV replays could see Henry blatantly and deliberately control the ball with his hand (twice) before crossing for William Gallas to score. And no doubt the fourth official also saw it on the replay.

Which begs the question, why can’t they do something useful rather than trying to make sure the managers are inside the lines of their technical areas? If the linesman saw Henry handle the ball he could tell the referee and the goal would have been disallowed so why don’t the fourth officials have the same powers when they’ve got the advantage of being able to see a replay? For something that is so clear cut and when so much is at stake?

It’s been done before on the biggest stage possible – the last World Cup final in 2006, ironically involving France against Italy. In extra-time, Zinedine Zidane headbutted Marco Materazzi and the incident was missed by the three officials on the pitch but fourth official Luis Medina Cantalejo saw it on the replay told referee Horacio Elizondo, who sent the Frenchman off.

It didn’t matter how the decision was made, the important thing was that the right decision was made. If the fourth official was not used, Zidane might well have scored in the penalty shootout and France instead of Italy could have unjustly been crowned world champions.

That moment promised to be a revolution in football but I’ve not seen anything like it since. While it would be dangerous to question every decision using technology, as most contact decisions are debatable anyway, if the fourth official has got conclusive evidence to change the decision as in Henry and Zidane’s case, I see no reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to tell the referee what they’ve seen.

While the handball decision cannot be changed and a replay would only open up a can of worms, FIFA can still punish Henry. Football is a long way behind other sports such as Formula One and rugby in terms of dealing out sufficient punishment for cheats.

If Henry was banned for five international games, thus missing some, if not all of France’s World Cup, it would surely make other professional footballers think twice about going to such extreme lengths to win. Similar punishments for players that blatantly dive to win a penalty when no contact has been made should be put in place.

As an admirer of Henry’s supreme talent of course it would be a shame if he was to play no part in what will almost certainly be his last World Cup. But surely it would be a much bigger shame if cheating was allowed to continue as just part and parcel of the game.