Thierry Henry's handball puts goalline referees on Fifa's World Cup agenda - 7M sport

Thierry Henry's handball puts goalline referees on Fifa's World Cup agenda



Posted Saturday, November 21, 2009 by theguardian.com

Thierry Henry's handball puts goalline referees on Fifa's World Cup agenda

Thierry Henry's handball against the Republic of Ireland could lead to Fifa fast-tracking the introduction of two additional referees in time for the World Cup in South Africa. One of Fifa's most senior officials yesterday confirmed the matter will be on the agenda at the law-making International Football Association Board meeting in Zurich next March.

Despite calls for Wednesday's controversial game to be replayed, among them one from France's own finance minister, Christine Lagarde, a rematch has been ruled out. However, Michel Platini, arguably one of the two most powerful men in football, is advocating additional referees as a potential panacea.

There is now every chance it could become part of the game's laws at the World Cup. "The situation of additional referees will be spoken about at the IFAB meeting," said the official. "If you had additional referees in place, they would have seen it. Michel Platini is in favour of the system of two more referees."

France have qualified for the World Cup," added the official. "The match won't be played again: the result is valid. If not, do you want to replay the ["Hand of God"] match from 1986? That would make you in England happy."

Platini said last month that "it is [my] role [as] the president of Uefa and Fifa's vice-president to help referees see everything". He added that with two more referees "it would be better, this system is fairer. You'd have two more pairs of eyes; that's easier."

Proponents of the Platini method, rather than video technology, say a fifth referee would have been positioned within a few feet of Henry at the fateful moment on Wednesday night. Platini is already committed to introducing the system for next season's Champions League, provided it wins the approval of the IFAB.

But in a curious twist of timing and Fifa process the decision rests as much in the hands of the home unions, whose closest cousins in the Republic of Ireland were wronged by Henry's act, as in Fifa's.

The IFAB comprises eight voting members. Four are from Fifa, including the president, Sepp Blatter, Platini and, in a nod to football's British heritage, one from each of the four home unions of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Previously the United Kingdom associations have broadly preferred video technology to supplementary referees.

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