- Image via Wikipedia
BBC Sport – Football – Irish ask Fifa for France replay.
We know the Irish were cheated and the true Thierry Henry showed himself last night but there will never be a replay. It’s simply not in FIFA’s or football’s best interest. Can you imagine any team that felt themselves cheated by some poor refereeing decision not appealing ? It would be anarchy. All FIFA can do is repeat the mantra of Fair Play and severely punish players who do cheat like this if they are caught. Henry will probably go on to score the winner in the World Cup final now. Football can be that perverse.
On a wider point, FIFA itself didn’t play fairly by seeding the play offs at the last minute thereby giving the bigger sides more chance of getting through. If FIFA doesn’t follow the notion of fair play and lead by example then how does it expect the rest of the footballing world to follow ?
Winning is without value if victory has been achieved unfairly or dishonestly. Cheating is easy, but brings no pleasure. Playing fair requires courage and character. It is also more satisfying. Fair play always has its reward, even when the game is lost. Playing fair earns respect, while cheating only brings shame. Remember: it is only a game. And games are pointless unless played fairly.
Related articles by Zemanta
- ‘Hand Of Gaul’ Robs Irish Of World Cup Place (news.sky.com)
- How Henry could have handled it better (guardian.co.uk)
- Thierry Henry handball provokes Irish justice minister to demand rematch with France (telegraph.co.uk)
- Irish Justice minister demands replay after Henry’s handball (guardian.co.uk)
