Thierry Henry clear to play in the World Cup
January 19, 2010
French footballer Thierry Henry will now be able to play in all of his county’s matches at the World Cup in South Africa this summer after Fifa rules that he cannot be punished for his infamous handball. In November last year Henry helped his team secure a place in the World Cup finals when he handled that ball in the penalty area allowing team mate William Gallas to score against Ireland. The match ended in a 1-1 draw but meant that France went 2-1 up on aggregate ending Ireland’s chance of participating in the competition.
The result caused outcry. Ireland appealed to Fifa to have the match replayed and even Thierry Henry admitted that would be the best way to resolve the situation. However Fifa ruled that all decisions made on the pitch would have to stand. A case against Henry was however opened by Fifa’s executive committee to look at whether the player should be punished for his behavior. The committee has decided that under its own rules it cannot recommend punishing Henry because his offence was not a serious infringement. Henry will now not face the prospect of being banned from any games in the World Cup.
The incident had initially caused some to ask for two extra officials to be placed on the sidelines whose job it would be to watch for misdemeanors inside the penalty area. Fifa said at the time that the World Cup was too close for them to adequately assess whether two more officials would be of any use.
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