Fair Play: Henry the Cheat
THIERRY Henry and Costin Lazar are both international footballers but with an ocean-wide difference separating them.
Henry suited up for France in 117 games and scored 51 times. He also won the World Cup in 1998.
Lazar only had nine caps for Romania since 2006 and hasn’t even scored a goal.
At 32, Henry suits up for FC Barcelona, was once nominated as the Fifa Footballer of the Year while playing for Arsenal, and is well-known among Pinoy football fans.
The 28-year-old Lazar is the captain of FC Rapid Bucuresti in the Romanian League and Pinoy fans would be hard-pressed to place a picture behind the name.
Henry is also a shameless cheat.
Lazar isn’t.
France is into the World Cup at the expense of Ireland, thanks to Henry’s shameless “Hand of Fraud” in extra time.
Henry, who has the ability to score and to find an open teammate without resorting to cheating, handled a pass to keep the ball out of bounds—twice!—then found an open William Gallas for the easy tap in.
Goal!
Hurray for France, the 1998 World Champions.
“I will be honest, it was a hand ball. But I’m not the ref. I played it. The ref allowed it,” Henry the Cheat said.
And Fair Play in the international stage, as some pundits have been saying, is dead.
Because elite players like Henry The Cheat put football in a bad light.
BBC, in last Friday’s news, said that even Americans, who pay scant attention to the game, are aware of the news because of the coverage it got.
BBC also estimates that Ireland lost $150 million in potential sponsorship money by missing out on the World Cup.
Even the politicians got into the act.
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said he was going to raise the matter when he meets with French President Nikolas Sarkozy, while French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde was quoted by Yahoo that she felt “very sad that the national team had qualified for the World Cup by cheating.”
Sports teachers also slam Henry, since it showed “winning at all costs,” is OK, which is contrary to what sportsmanship is all about.
“The France team will go to South Africa courtesy of indisputable cheating, which highlights the downward spiral affecting football today,” the teachers union, SNEP-FSU, said in a statement.
There were calls to re-play the game, but Fifa has shot down the appeal since their rule stipulates “the referee’s decision on the field is final.”
Henry the Cheat, himself, said the fairest solution to the brouhaha he caused is to play the match again.
But as the BBC commentator said, “It’s easy to say that now that Fifa has decided a replay is impossible.”
And Henry the Cheat just fueled the argument that video replays should be used in football.
As for Lazar, he is of a different ilk.
In a game against Otelul Galati, with Rapid leading 2-0, Lazar was brought down inside the box—just a few meters from the spot where Henry handled the ball.
The ref called a penalty, but Lazar waived it off, saying the tackle was clean.
Instead of a penalty, the ref called for a drop-ball, and the play continued.
I got goose bumps when I saw that clip on the Internet.
I shook my head when I saw Henry’s deed.
There was an interesting article I read a few years back, highlighting one sad effect of the elite players’ influence on the rest of the football population.
When there was a spate of foul-baiting, before it was a punishable offense, in the major leagues, the amateur leagues also started seeing a lot of dives.
Now, will we be seeing a lot of Henry The Cheats?
Henry suited up for France in 117 games and scored 51 times. He also won the World Cup in 1998.
Lazar only had nine caps for Romania since 2006 and hasn’t even scored a goal.
At 32, Henry suits up for FC Barcelona, was once nominated as the Fifa Footballer of the Year while playing for Arsenal, and is well-known among Pinoy football fans.
The 28-year-old Lazar is the captain of FC Rapid Bucuresti in the Romanian League and Pinoy fans would be hard-pressed to place a picture behind the name.
Henry is also a shameless cheat.
Lazar isn’t.
France is into the World Cup at the expense of Ireland, thanks to Henry’s shameless “Hand of Fraud” in extra time.
Henry, who has the ability to score and to find an open teammate without resorting to cheating, handled a pass to keep the ball out of bounds—twice!—then found an open William Gallas for the easy tap in.
Goal!
Hurray for France, the 1998 World Champions.
“I will be honest, it was a hand ball. But I’m not the ref. I played it. The ref allowed it,” Henry the Cheat said.
And Fair Play in the international stage, as some pundits have been saying, is dead.
Because elite players like Henry The Cheat put football in a bad light.
BBC, in last Friday’s news, said that even Americans, who pay scant attention to the game, are aware of the news because of the coverage it got.
BBC also estimates that Ireland lost $150 million in potential sponsorship money by missing out on the World Cup.
Even the politicians got into the act.
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said he was going to raise the matter when he meets with French President Nikolas Sarkozy, while French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde was quoted by Yahoo that she felt “very sad that the national team had qualified for the World Cup by cheating.”
Sports teachers also slam Henry, since it showed “winning at all costs,” is OK, which is contrary to what sportsmanship is all about.
“The France team will go to South Africa courtesy of indisputable cheating, which highlights the downward spiral affecting football today,” the teachers union, SNEP-FSU, said in a statement.
There were calls to re-play the game, but Fifa has shot down the appeal since their rule stipulates “the referee’s decision on the field is final.”
Henry the Cheat, himself, said the fairest solution to the brouhaha he caused is to play the match again.
But as the BBC commentator said, “It’s easy to say that now that Fifa has decided a replay is impossible.”
And Henry the Cheat just fueled the argument that video replays should be used in football.
As for Lazar, he is of a different ilk.
In a game against Otelul Galati, with Rapid leading 2-0, Lazar was brought down inside the box—just a few meters from the spot where Henry handled the ball.
The ref called a penalty, but Lazar waived it off, saying the tackle was clean.
Instead of a penalty, the ref called for a drop-ball, and the play continued.
I got goose bumps when I saw that clip on the Internet.
I shook my head when I saw Henry’s deed.
There was an interesting article I read a few years back, highlighting one sad effect of the elite players’ influence on the rest of the football population.
When there was a spate of foul-baiting, before it was a punishable offense, in the major leagues, the amateur leagues also started seeing a lot of dives.
Now, will we be seeing a lot of Henry The Cheats?
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