Noni Brokers

Thierry Henry is a free man. Many fans believe Thierry Henry deserved to be penalized for his hand ball that secured a spot for France in the World Cup and sent Ireland home ending their dreams of playing in South Africa.

I was really hoping that Ireland would win, but I agree with FIFA in the decision they made regarding this matter. Over the past few months, I’ve been chatting with many friends about this matter and we’ve come up with some great comparisons that help make this extremely clear.

Let’s take Michael Jordan – If MJ traveled in a championship game and then went on to hit the game winner, would there ever be discussion of a penalty/fine for him? Absolutely not! That’s what the referees are for and their job is to make the call. Maybe MJ knew he was walking, but that’s not his fault.

According to FIFA’s rules, they couldn’t find anything that would give them a legal right to fine Henry. Basically, they agreed that a hand ball is NOT worthy of any sort of fine. The refs should face a fine before Henry should – it’s their job to make the calls.

It would have been a shame to see a superstar of Henry’s caliber on the sidelines during the World Cup this summer. The punishment he was facing could have kept him out of the World Cup for several games. This is the most elite soccer tournament in the World and it would not be the same without his presence.

Playing college ball in the States, I’ve been part of some terrible calls. Some were in our favor and some against us. We never blamed the player – we would go straight to the ref and let him know what he missed! I understand the refs are human and they’ll miss some calls!

Ireland was so upset about this that they asked FIFA to replay the match. I was hoping for a rematch, but I knew that FIFA would turn it down. They can’t overturn the call and allow a rematch, but maybe this pushes for FIFA to begin using technology to help overturn calls. I would hate to see official reviews in the middle of a soccer game, but I’m not opposed to adding a referee to the end-line.

As a soccer player, I’ve witnessed many sneaky tactics during games and have pulled some off myself. This is all a part of the game, although some may say it’s bad sportsmanship. I hate to see what Henry did determine the outcome of the game (and more), but again, it’s part of the game. He took a chance of getting a card!

This author is a huge soccer fan. He enjoys playing and watching soccer on his free time. Check out his reviews on the latest soccer supplies and youth soccer shoes at his site.