FOOTBALL: Referee must have the final say on Henry handball incident

This incident has got the world talking, so here is my two pence worth on the Thierry Henry handball which killed off Irish dreams of a place in the World Cup finals.

The more I see it, the more sympathetic I feel towards the mightily unlucky Irish who gave it their all but lost out to a freak of a decision. The full-time whistle was followed by national and international outrage with widespread calls for a replay following what could be one of the most costliest decisions in the history of football. From media outlets like Sky, BBC and ITV to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, the out pour of sympathy for the Irish from football and non-football fans has highlighted how strongly the public feels about cheating of any sort, especially in football.

As a matter of principle then, one would expect me to be fully supportive of the Irish attempts to force a replay. However, I believe that once a few more days pass and the dust settles, everyone will move on and forget about Henry's deceiving act. I may be in the minority here but isn't it time to get real? Here are my arguments:

1) Until there is goal-line and video technology fully introduced in modern-day football, there will always be one boss out there on the pitch and that is the referee. For me, he must have the ultimate say on what he has seen and what has happened. As it turns out, he missed Henry's handball yesterday which means that the goal has to stand. Now, you can jump and shout and protest all you like but if the referee has had his say then its a goal. This simple principle, the referee being the ultimate decision-maker based on what he sees with his own eyes - and perhaps assisted by the linesman is currently in operation in football matches throughout the world. Furthermore, it doesn't matter what level the game is being played at, the rules are the same be it Conference league, Premier league, the World Cup final or a World Cup play-off match.

2) It leads on from my first point that the lack of technology at this moment, whilst arguably a bad thing, has -in my view - always led to controversial decisions in football. From the infamous 'Hand of God' by Maradona back in 1986 to Euro 2004 when Urs Meier disallowed Sol Campbell's late goal v Portugal and there are many more. So, injustice and cheating (sadly) has been part and parcel of the game but the referee's are human and have made mistakes. With all due respect to the Irish, I do not think they are the first team to be hard done by and in all honesty, they cannot expect special rules to apply to them when so many other teams have suffered in the past.

3) My final point relates to the nature of the incident. I certainly feel that the over-reaction is primarily due to the way in which Henry cheated. Say, for example that instead of handling, Henry dived and won a penalty which made the crucial difference. Do you think the reaction would have been the same? I doubt it very much. The principle is, however, the same in that the decision is to be made by the referee in a split second and often he/she may make the wrong call. The wrong call has been made many times but we cannot dwell on it.

So, to conclude. Whilst I'd love to see another fiery encounter between France and Ireland for a place in the World cup finals in South Africa this coming summer, I'm afraid to say I cannot see it happening. If the referee is to make the final call and call it as he sees it then that is how it will end, be it by luck, by nature or by cheating. Good luck to France, unlucky Ireland.