'Hand of Frog' goal is the last straw

It's the latest installment in football's degeneration into a soap opera, that being another cheating row, and this one has grabbed the attention of the entire watching world. The incident has been dubbed the 'Hand of Frog', Thierry Henry's handball that denied the Republic of Ireland a place at next summer's World Cup in South Africa which brought memories harking back of Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' that knocked England out of the same competition back in 1986.

Let's get the facts out of the way first. Henry handled the ball twice. Replays suggest the initial contact was accidental, but video evidence clearly shows the striker then flicking the ball into his path, enabling him to cross for William Gallas to head home and get the goal that would have so pleased UEFA president Michel Platini and FIFA's Sepp Blatter. 'Hallelujah!' they must have cried. 'That was close! But our master plan has worked!'

Indeed it has. So great was the risk that some of Europe's big guns would miss out on a place in South Africa that a seeding system was introduced in the play-offs, allowing the likes of Portugal, Russia and France the best possible chance to progress to the finals. Only it almost backfired in spectacular and glorious fashion. The Russians were dumped out at the hands of Slovenia, and Ireland almost pulled off an even greater shock, only for the hand of Henry to come to the rescue.

However, there was no va va voom about France on Wednesday evening. The green shirts of Ireland swamped their opponents, showing magnificent desire and determination that was rewarded when Robbie Keane scored to level the tie. With extra-time running out, it looked like the visitors were going to at least put their illustrious hosts to the test in a battle of nerve and bottle from the penalty spot.

But all that was taken away by a moment that will inevitably taint Henry's image as the nice guy of world football, even though the striker has insisted replaying the match is the 'fairest solution'.

However, rather than that being the case, I believe the blame lays firmly at the feet of the game's officials and the governing bodies that continue to ignore the cries for video technology to be introduced.

Show me a player who claims he would not do the same thing in Henry's position, with so much at stake, and I will show you a liar.

Indeed, several Irish players have come forward to absolve the Barcelona striker of any blame and have instead condemned the officials that have so betrayed them.

Replays from behind the referee at the time of the incident suggest his view was obscured. Verdict? Not guilty. However, the same cannot be said of the linesman on the opposite side of the pitch, who can be seen to have a clear view to the far byline when Henry twice handled the ball. What do we put that down to? Perhaps the chap's eyesight wasn't once what it was, or maybe a fly had inconveniently flown straight into his eye. No, he bottled it.

Such decisions should be an assistant's bread and butter. There is no excuse for missing the incident and he should be reprimanded. Will he be punished? You bet your bottom dollar he won't be. He's more likely to receive a pat on the back and the promise of a high-profile fixture at next year's World Cup for doing his bit to keep France in the tournament.

So, to counter this incompetence, or indeed to remove the doubt when an official's view is obscured, there can only be one solution.

It's high time football followed the example of cricket and rugby and introduced video technology to root out the cheats and get the big decisions right.

If a player is revealed to have dived or deliberately handballed or conned the referee into awarding a penalty on a replay, then the punishment should be a straight red card and the decision should be reversed.

Granted, there will be occasions when things will not be so simple. If it looks as if a goalscoring opportunity will follow after a foul or indiscretion in the box, the referee should use his common sense to allow play to go on and review the decision from a replay when the ball has gone out of play. If the player in question is deemed to have cheated, send him off.

There will of course be complications to such a system being introduced, but compromises will have to be made and rules put in place to arrive at a suitable process.

One thing is for sure, things cannot remain as they are.

Martin Samuel in the Daily Mail outlines a system roadtested in Germany that relies on player honesty. The referee will award a penalty for a foul, for example, before asking the player whether he was unfairly challenged or whether, in fact, he dived. If he admits to the dive a free-kick is awarded to the opposition. If he claims he was fouled, the penalty stands, but if after the game he is found to have lied, then he is retrospectively banned for a number of games.

It sounds like a wonderful idea, a world where footballers are coaxed into telling the truth and everyone lives happily ever after.

But are you telling me that a player would not be willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good? Such a system could merely lead to an advanced level of play-acting, whereby a player would be sure to make some form of contact with an opposing player so that when he is told that he has dived and will receive a ban, he will simply argue that such was his momentum that the slightest touch had put him off his stride.

Either way, something must be done to eradicate the virus that is spreading rapidly through our game and that threatens to tear it apart at the seams.