A case of Horrid Henry?

What a difference a day makes… On Wednesday morning you would be hard pressed to find a sports journalist or football pundit with a bad word to say about Thierry Henry. Twenty-four hours later and you could be forgiven for thinking he’d been involved in some heinous criminal activity.

Am I the only one who feels sorry for the French captain?

When Henry eventually hangs up his boots he will still be remembered as one of the finest French players of all time. Wednesday’s incident will come to represent nothing but a small blot on the copy book of an immense career, conducted for the most part with grace and intelligence.

The purveyors of the knee jerk scattergun character assassinations should be ashamed of themselves. When the furor eventually dies down and some perspective is realised, some of Henry’s former team mates will look back in embarrassment at their so-called ‘punditry’.

Yes, Thierry cheated. No one is contesting that he handled the ball twice in the lead up to one of the most important goals in French football history. It is generally accepted that the handball was an act of instinct and not some premeditated act of foul play. But the protestations are due to the fact he didn’t immediately confess to the referee. Whilst admirable, such incidents are incredibly rare. And the regularly lauded examples of Fowler and Di Canio occurred in matches with a far lower profile.

The truth is that Thierry Henry is only guilty of a lack of courage and perspective. As William Gallas reeled away in celebration, the Barcelona man failed to take responsibility for his actions. But in all honesty, how many players would genuinely have argued against the goal amidst the adrenaline, intensity and huge national relief?

To be accused of ‘damaging the image of football’ and compared to Diego Maradona, is yet again indicative of a sporting media that has no interest in the middle-ground. Throughout his career Henry has promoted the image of the game far more than most of his peers, and lest we forget that Maradona did not openly admit his mistake, but rather referred to it as the ‘Hand of God’.

In a press conference today, Henry addressed the issue appropriately and apologetically, by admitting embarrassment for his mistake and suggesting that a replay would be the ‘fairest solution’. Although this is unlikely, how about some credit for the French striker’s honesty and responsibility? And dare I say it, but how about some forgiveness?

The best that can come from this incident is the long-overdue use of video evidence during top level football matches. Whilst cricket and tennis have successfully embraced the advantages of modern technology, football stubbornly refuses to move out of the Stone Age. If anything should be blamed for Ireland’s World Cup exit, it is FIFA’s perennial feet dragging on the whole issue.

In tennis, the challenge system gives a player the right to appeal umpire decisions three times in a set. There is no reason why the captain of a football team should not have the same right of appeal. By providing each team three opportunities to challenge penalty box incidents per match, you could make Wednesday’s debacle a thing of the past. Robbie Keane would simply have called on the fourth official to review the footage and the goal would have been disallowed.

With one team’s World Cup dream already shattered, it’s time for FIFA to act now.