When Irish eyes aren't smiling

It was hard not to feel saddened for Ireland’s tireless heroes tonight as they went down to France, in their World Cup 2010 qualifying match, in the most controversial of circumstances. Deep into the first half of extra time, a long pass was put over the top of the Irish defence. Thierry Henry clearly handled the ball before squaring for William Gallas, who bundled it in. You could practically here tirty tree hundred tousand (sic) Irish hearts breaking.

When the dust settles tomorrow, you can guarantee there will be many people baying for blood. Some will want Thierry Henry, the perpetrator of this most heinous crime, brought up on criminal charges. Some will want referee, Martin Hansson, hung, drawn and quartered for all to see in the middle of Mountjoy Square, Dublin. Others will point the finger at the sneaky Powers That Be and their hidden French-loving agendas. And some will undoubtedly blame Gordon Brown. I’m always one for a good conspiracy theory, but let’s keep a little perspective.

Firstly, Thierry Henry. He might be the most hated man in Ireland tonight, but I can guarantee he’ll be the most loved man in France. It appears he cheated and whilst you can argue it goes against the spirit of the game, few fans wouldn’t sacrifice that same spirit to get their own team into the World Cup finals. Let’s be absolutely clear that if England had been in that position and it had been Wayne Rooney handling the ball, we wouldn’t be so quick to demand justice.

Next there is Martin Hansson. When viewing the incident from most vantage points it looks blatant. When slowed down on sixteen different cameras, it looks positively scandalous. However, we don’t have the exact line of sight that Hansson had and we don’t know exactly where he was looking when Henry picked the ball up and ran with it. I’m not a big fan of heaping blame on to referees. It’s a thankless task and apart from a few egotistical penises, like Jeff Winter and Graham Poll, they do a good job and ultimately have fairness at heart. If Hansson was a cheat he’d have taken the opportunity earlier in the half to award Nicolas Anelka a penalty after he fell over the arm of Shay Given. It wasn’t penalty, but I’ve certainly seen them given.

And finally that brings us to the Powers That Be – I’m going to let Gordon Brown off the hook this once. There will be cries that the FIFA, UEFA, the French Foreign Legion, the KGB and NASA all had a hand in this game, demanding that world football powerhouse, France, be awarded a place in the World Cup Finals, no matter what. The upper echelons of football is no doubt a smorgasbord of corruption, greed and self-service, but to accuse them of having a hand in the game would be to again accuse Referee Hansson of being part of the conspiracy, which I refuse to believe. If Platini and Blatter had been running the lines in the match, then maybe, but they weren’t and unfortunately the conspiracy theory rarely holds up in a match as full of incidents as this one was. Hansson, aside from the obvious howler, didn’t have such a bad game and I’m sure most Irish fans would have agreed, just after he’d waved away the French supporters protests for a penalty.

But heads need to roll. Someone needs to be held accountable. We want… no… we need blood. Well, maybe we can still turn this around so that the Powers That Be can be responsible - after all it is there unwillingness to consider video technology, that has brought us to this spot, is it not? If the referee had consulted his fourth official, who was able to see what we all did, then it wouldn’t have taken long for him to award Ireland a free kick and the game to continue. But he didn’t even have that option and, when something as important as a World Cup place is on the line, that is truly criminal.

Many say that video technology would slow the game down and some even melodramatically suggest that video technology could be the death of football. Okay, steady on. I understand those concerns, especially when I watch rugby league now and the match official goes to the video ref for a clear cut try, simply to cover his own arse. It has gotten ridiculous in rugby, but that doesn’t mean football is resigned to go the same way. We can learn from their mistakes and implement a system that is swift, inconspicuous and decisive. I’m not being so brash as to suggest video technology referral for every small decision in the game, but when a whole country’s football fate lies in one highly debatable decision, what is the harm in stepping back, taking another look and then ruling. It might take some flow from the game, but surely that is a small price to pay for the right and just outcome.

The fact that the incident should bring the debate about video technology back to the table will be little consolation to Eire fans everywhere. Tonight, they were indeed robbed, but it is now up to FIFA, with the World Cup 2010 just around the corner, to make sure that the most important sporting tournament in the world isn’t decided in a similar way.