There Is No Place for Cheating In Football

Following the controversial decision to allow France’s goal to stand as Thierry Henry clearly handled the ball prior to assisting William Gallas, it is only normal to have increased complaints and ever growing displeasure at the level of refereeing. Some may attribute this to a conspiracy which necessitates the presence of France in South Africa 2010 at the expense of the Irish.

Others will point to the hotly contested Egypt versus Algeria play-off match which took place in Sudan (Egypt’s preferred location) and not Tunisia (location chosen by the Algerians) after controversial pre-match incidents when the two sides met in Cairo over the weekend. Algeria’s bus was subjected to rough treatment to say the least and under other circumstances the match would have been postponed or Egypt would have been forced to forfeit the match if proof of injury was given. In either case, the match went on and the Egyptians, with some claiming they were favoured by FIFA, succeeded in getting the necessary 2-0 win to force a play-off match. Obviously, the match in Sudan ended in Algeria’s favour to dispel any claims that FIFA was going to have the Egyptians in next summer’s World Cup.

Going back to the important point about key refereeing decisions, the error made yesterday was obvious since Henry blatantly handled the ball and it is hard to believe the linesman could not spot that infringement. However, if one is to look at this Youtube.com clip featuring some unacceptable and appalling behaviour from a female athlete during a college soccer game in the United States, it is unbelievable how she managed not to get sent-off on at least five of those violent occasions. It is inconceivable to think that a referee, at any level, cannot notice such abuse inflicted by this supposed sportswoman on the opponent’s players.

In addition, how far has football and sports in general deteriorated and taken a step back at the expense of achieving success on the pitch, satisfying hungry sponsors or feeding the deeper pockets? Even at the amateur level where sportsmanship should be engraved and highlighted, this case, despite being quite unique with this particular female player endangering the career and well-being of her opponents, shows that some would go quite far to achieve success and/or their objective at any expense.

No one is comparing Henry to this female because he does not have the reputation of a dirty player but what happened against Ireland may have earned him the reputation of a cheat. Earlier this season there were different incidents involving two Premier League players though the circumstances were quite different. In one case, Emmanuel Adebayor was involved in two ugly and controversial incidents in the clash against his former team Arsenal. Adebayor ran the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the Arsenal fans after scoring for Manchester City and he also stamped on Robin van Persie’s head. Indeed, football has become a highly charged profession but what excuses Adebayor’s unacceptable behaviour as a professional who gets paid ridiculous sums to perform for the public?

In the second situation, Arsenal’s Croatian player Eduardo da Silva was accused of simulation in the Champions League when he won a penalty against Celtic. Since that incident, doubts have surfaced whenever Eduardo fell in the penalty area. There is no guarantee that players from opposing sides will begin to feel suspicious whenever Henry takes a dive or does something they deem inappropriate. Henry may have helped France qualify but he did damage his reputation along the way.

Have a look at the clip and decide for yourself! Sometimes decisions are really down to mistakes done by referees in a split-second but this goes beyond any comprehension of the basic rules of officiating.

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