Henry admits "replay would be fair"

[Red-4-Life]

Under-fire France striker Thierry Henry believes a replay of the World Cup play-off with the Republic of Ireland would "be the fairest solution".

The Republic appealed to have the match replayed after an Henry handball helped France to a 2-1 aggregate victory.

But their plea was rejected by Fifa, while the French Football Federation will not advocate a rematch either.

Henry said: "Of course the fairest solution would be to replay the game but it is not in my control."

With the tie finely poised at 1-1 in the first half of extra-time, the Barcelona striker twice handled a long ball into the area before squaring for William Gallas to bundle home the eventual winner.

The incident has attracted mass news coverage across Europe, but Henry - who admitted the handball immediately after the match - waited until Friday before releasing a statement.

"Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way that we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa," said the 32-year-old.

"There is little more I can do apart from admit that the ball had contact with my hand leading up to our equalising goal and I feel very sorry for the Irish."


Lineker: 'Henry tainted like Maradona'
And the former Arsenal forward insisted he was not a "cheat", claiming his handling of the ball was "instinctive".

"I have said at the time and I will say again that yes I handled the ball. I am not a cheat and never have been. It was an instinctive reaction to a ball that was coming extremely fast in a crowded penalty area," he said.

"As a footballer you do not have the luxury of the television to slow the pace of the ball down 100 times to be able to make a conscious decision. People are viewing a slow motion version of what happened and not what I or any other footballer faces in the game.

"If people look at it in full speed you will see that it was an instinctive reaction.

"It is impossible to be anything other than that. I have never denied that the ball was controlled with my hand. I told the Irish players, the referee and the media this after the game."

Henry's former manager Arsene Wenger echoed the frontman's thoughts, adding that the incident furthered the case for video technology to be used in future.

"Football accepts that a billion people see it, one guy doesn't see it, and yet it is the one who prevails. It cannot work," said the Gunners boss.

"At the game, I saw the referee giving a goal knowing that something was wrong and that is really sad.

"In the end, he gave a goal already knowing that it wasn't a goal. We cannot accept that in our sport and you have to do something about it. The referee didn't see it, I can understand that, the linesman didn't see it, but they couldn't get any help.

"For the sense of justice it is quite embarrassing to see. I think even France is embarrassed. We didn't play well at all and we won the game and won the qualification with a goal that was not a goal."

And Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson also advocated the use of video technology to resolve such issues.

"The stance is that Fifa prefers human decision-making rather than technology decision-making and until they change their mind there is nothing you can do about it - you have to convince them, nobody else," said the Scot.

"It is not a matter of asking every player and manager in the world their opinion because they will all share the same one, as I do myself, that technology can play a part and can help referees in a situation like the other night."


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/footbal ... 370764.stm

go on FIFA, he said it himself....rematch!!!

[totsreds08]

i feel sorry for the irish. have to wait another 4 years to get their chance and fairplay to henry for saying this but he clearly knows there won't be a replay

[Il Duce]

fairplay to henry for saying this but he clearly knows there won't be a replay

Hardly fair play at all.

[swannsong]

If there was a replay and Ireland lost they would still feel cheated....a replay wouldn't solve anything unless Ireland won.

[themagnet]

what would be fair, Henry, is if u hadn't stuck your hand out

If there was a replay and Ireland lost they would still feel cheated....a replay wouldn't solve anything unless Ireland won.

exactly, but it would make for an interesting and very firery game.

[Il Duce]

If there was a replay and Ireland lost they would still feel cheated....a replay wouldn't solve anything unless Ireland won.

This is what happened to Uzbekistan four years ago. Funny thing is I don't think they requested a replay, even though the referee's error on the day cost them a goal.

[ruud]

If there was a replay and Ireland lost they would still feel cheated....a replay wouldn't solve anything unless Ireland won.

i dont believe that actually...

if they lost to france fairly, then it would be easier to accept the loss

its harder to accept a loss, when its not a real loss

[COLOSSUS]

"The stance is that Fifa prefers human decision-making rather than technology decision-making and until they change their mind there is nothing you can do about it....."

Thankyou for that Sir Alex, exactly what ive been saying, there is nothing you can do about it. At the end of the day players will get away with what they can until the law is changed or technology is introduced to catch the criminals or in this case so called "cheats" and you cant blame them. Its just like speeding, most people would of sped up to 70 or so in the past to make an Amber (orange) traffic light, but now with the introduction of speed camera technology at the traffic lights, most people who would before the introduction have gone through those lights now slow down to stop as to not increase their chance of getting caught speeding, an easy solution to a simple yet unnecessary problem. Tax evasion is another classic example, where people (normally those with more money than the average person even though everyone tries to save on tax) will hire chartered accountants and blatantly "cheat" or "rip off" the system and pay a tax bill that isnt big enough to feed one starving child in Africa eg a now deceased businessman who ran a tv station and payed one year 20 cents tax but turned over more billions than you could come up with on your calculator. Until FIFA change the laws by way of harsher penalties or/and introduce video technology to deal with simple but unnecessary problems, the players will do what they have to (knowing there is a chance they will get away with it with minor or no punishment or get away with it altogether) and i see nothing wrong with that. If its good for all of us in everyday life, i dont see why its going to be or it should be any different in Sport

[Lithopt Leper]

If there was a replay and Ireland lost they would still feel cheated....a replay wouldn't solve anything unless Ireland won.

i dont believe that actually...
if they lost to france fairly, then it would be easier to accept the loss
its harder to accept a loss, when its not a real loss

The fact that the incident has already happened means they haven't lost fairly, with or without a replay.

[Inter_boy;)]

Henry spoke very intelligently and all this hate towards him is ridiculous, the blame should be placed on the shoulders of the officials, and even then.. they simply made an error, that you or i could have easily made.

Replay ?? thats simply stupid, a team was hard done by because of a wrong refereeing decision, has that never happened before ?

As mentioned by Wenger/henry perhaps the incident furthered the case for video technology to be used in future.

[Red-4-Life]

he's only saying it so he doesnt look like a bad sportsman with the high profile he has knowing FIFA wont do anything about it. TWAT

[barbarez01]

he's only saying it so he doesnt look like a bad sportsman with the high profile he has knowing FIFA wont do anything about it. TWAT

[Nice One Cyril]

"The stance is that Fifa prefers human decision-making rather than technology decision-making and until they change their mind there is nothing you can do about it....."

Thankyou for that Sir Alex, exactly what ive been saying, there is nothing you can do about it. At the end of the day players will get away with what they can until the law is changed or technology is introduced to catch the criminals or in this case so called "cheats" and you cant blame them. Its just like speeding, most people would of sped up to 70 or so in the past to make an Amber (orange) traffic light, but now with the introduction of speed camera technology at the traffic lights, most people who would before the introduction have gone through those lights now slow down to stop as to not increase their chance of getting caught speeding, an easy solution to a simple yet unnecessary problem. Tax evasion is another classic example, where people (normally those with more money than the average person even though everyone tries to save on tax) will hire chartered accountants and blatantly "cheat" or "rip off" the system and pay a tax bill that isnt big enough to feed one starving child in Africa eg a now deceased businessman who ran a tv station and payed one year 20 cents tax but turned over more billions than you could come up with on your calculator. Until FIFA change the laws by way of harsher penalties or/and introduce video technology to deal with simple but unnecessary problems, the players will do what they have to (knowing there is a chance they will get away with it with minor or no punishment or get away with it altogether) and i see nothing wrong with that. If its good for all of us in everyday life, i dont see why its going to be or it should be any different in Sport

It must be nearly Christmas because this is one of the rare occasions when I'm in complete agreement with Col

Bring on the technology you fucking dinosaurs running FIFA

[barbarez01]

simply cannot believe how corrupt FIFA is these days... its no longer who is better on the pitch that counts, its who can bring in more money off the field and fill the pockets of Platini and Sepp.. quite sad and whats even sadder is theres no one doing anything about it...........

[Nice One Cyril]

An interesting comment from Henry and Wenger to follow up what SAF said.

Looks like the momentum for technology is building.

"Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way that we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa," said the 32-year-old Frenchman.

"There is little more I can do apart from admit that the ball had contact with my hand leading up to our equalising goal and I feel very sorry for the Irish.

"I have said at the time and I will say again that yes I handled the ball. I am not a cheat and never have been. It was an instinctive reaction to a ball that was coming extremely fast in a crowded penalty area.

"As a footballer you do not have the luxury of the television to slow the pace of the ball down 100 times to be able to make a conscious decision. People are viewing a slow motion version of what happened and not what I or any other footballer faces in the game.

"If people look at it in full speed you will see that it was an instinctive reaction.

"It is impossible to be anything other than that. I have never denied that the ball was controlled with my hand. I told the Irish players, the referee and the media this after the game."

Henry's former manager Arsene Wenger echoed the frontman's thoughts, adding that the incident furthered the case for video technology to be used in future.

"Football accepts that a billion people see it, one guy doesn't see it, and yet it is the one who prevails. It cannot work," said the Gunners boss.

"At the game, I saw the referee giving a goal knowing that something was wrong and that is really sad.

"In the end, he gave a goal already knowing that it wasn't a goal. We cannot accept that in our sport and you have to do something about it. The referee didn't see it, I can understand that, the linesman didn't see it, but they couldn't get any help. "

[DOC]

simply cannot believe how corrupt FIFA is these days... its no longer who is better on the pitch that counts, its who can bring in more money off the field and fill the pockets of Platini and Sepp.. quite sad and whats even sadder is theres no one doing anything about it...........

[ruud]

he's only saying it so he doesnt look like a bad sportsman with the high profile he has knowing FIFA wont do anything about it. TWAT

[Le King]

not gonna stop ppl from wantin 2 kill u

[swannsong]

Hitler reacts to Henry's handball
"Now they have a noble reason to invade France."