“Hand Of God” By Thierry à la Maradona

Twenty three years ago, at the 1986 FIFA World Cup quarter final match in Mexico, Argentina’s team captain Diego Armando Maradona scored a goal aginst England with his hand.  The referee did not see that infringement, and awarded the goal to Argentina, much to the protest of the England team.

That goal became known as the “Hand of God”, or “la mano de Dios”.  As late as 2005, Diego Armando Maradona showed no remorse for punching that ball with his hand into England’s goal. He said then: “The truth is that I don’t for a second regret scoring that goal with my hand.”

It was not until 2008 that Diego Armando Maradona finally made an some sort of apology to England for that foul. He said: ”If I could apologise and go back and change history I would do. But the goal is still a goal, Argentina became world champions and I was the best player in the world. I cannot change history. All I can do now is move on.”

If you think that was a one-off incident, think again.  Recently, France qualified for a place in the 2010 FIFA World Cup by beating Ireland. This time, the “Hand of God” reappeared, but instead of it being known as “la mano de Dios”, it is now called ““Le Hand of God”. And Ireland failed to make it to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Video replays confirmed that Henry Thierry, captain of the French team, used his hand to stop the ball going out of play in extra-time, before he passed to William Gallas head in the goal.

But unlike Diego Armando Maradona, Henry Thierry issued this statement: “The ball hit my hand, I will be honest. It was a handball, you can clearly see it. But I’m not the referee. I played it. The referee allowed it. That’s a question you should ask him. Naturally, I feel embarrassed at the way we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa. Of course, the fairest solution would be to replay the game but it is not in my control. There is little more I can do apart from admit the ball had contact with my hand leading up to our equalising goal and I feel very sorry for the Irish. I am not a cheat and never have been.”

Should France apologize?  French boss Raymond Domenech said: “I have since looked at the footage and it is indeed a refereeing mistake. For me, it’s a game incident and not cheating. Therefore, I don’t see why we are asked to apologise.”

Former England captain David Beckham said of Henry Thierry: ”I honestly didn’t think Thierry meant it. But these things happen in football. Whether it is right or wrong, I really don’t think that he meant it. I don’t think Thierry is a cheat.”

But shouldn’t Henry Thierry have owned up and told the referee that it was a foul?  Well he claimed to have done so, but he said he was told “You are not the referee”.

Captain Robbie Keane of Ireland said: “He’s an absolutely top player and has been for a long time, but it was a clear handball. He actually dragged it in from going out. I wouldn’t expect it from anybody. I would also be happy for a replay to happen in the interest of fair play so that whichever team qualifies, can do so with their heads held high. We can only hope the French Football Federation might accept the wishes of both captains in the best interests of the game.”

French finance minister Christine Lagarde said she supported moves for a replay and added: “I think it’s very sad. I’m of course very happy that the French team will play in the World Cup, but I find it very sad that it did qualify with… you know… an act of cheating.”

What are the chances of a replay?  FIFA issued a statement recently: “The result of the match cannot be changed and the match cannot be replayed. As is clearly mentioned in the Laws of the Game, during matches, decisions are taken by the referee and these decisions are final.”

Think about it.  Does the end justify the means?  If Christine Lagarde feels sad that France qualified by “an act of cheating”, and if FIFA won’t sanction a replay, what is to stop France from voluntarily withdrawing from the 2010 FIFA World Cup competition?