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To cheat or not to cheat - Is that really the Question?
What a sad state of affairs we have arrived at when the question under discussion is about cheating. Should the goal that was scored, thanks to Thierry Henry's hand ball, be allowed to stand? In other words, is it OK now to cheat and get away with it? Well ,say the authorities, it is not as simple as that. As the match officials did not see any infringement, they cannot change what happened. What, even if the TV pictures show that Henry - quite clearly and deliberately - prevents the ball from going into touch with his hand? Well, as the officials did not see a problem at the time, the result will stand....This farce brings to my mind an exchange between a young man and another which is encapsulated in the limerick of Ronald Knox which was on the lines of -
There was a young man who said "God Must find it exceedingly odd, To think that the tree
Should continue to be, When there's no one about in the quad."
---Ronald Knox........ "Dear Sir: Your astonishment's odd;
I am always about in the quad. And that's why the tree,
Will continue to be, Since observed by,
Yours faithfully,
God."
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Can't say I 100% agree with you here Kevin. The footballing authorities only have themselves to blame - the longer they persist with not introducing a video referee the longer this sort of thing will continue and, sadly, have to be put down to just being 'part of the game'. Everyone has to suffer these things from time to time, you could say the Germans were hard done by in 1966, if you believe the ball didn't really cross the line, or that England should replay the 1986 'Hand of God' game against Argentina. Or maybe Wales could replay their 2004 qualifier against Russian where a Russian player was failed a drugs test afterwards.
As long as FIFA retains the anachronistic view that things are 'ok' as they are, then this sort of thing will continue.
For the biggest sport in the world, it almost seems deliberately obtuse to not take up the technological aids which have been introduced in so many other sports now - and, for the mostpart, have been well received and beneficial.
As for Thierry Henry, he will no doubt be 'booed' for numerous future fixtures and many will forget what a mercurial player he has been.