If, and this is a big if, players did not surround and argue with the referee after every decision… IF players didn’t shout and abuse referees when calls were made against them or their side… IF players didn’t scream for a card to be shown or yell that an injustice had been done….

Then maybe the referee would have been inclined to listen when told a handball had occurred? Perhaps to listen to Henry when he admitted as much, or even to have give the Irish captain a moment to complain?

It’s all well and good Roy Keane telling FIFA to watch out for the roundabouts or people and the media in particular sarcastically pointing out why blame should be laid at the doors of a Frenchman involved in running the game.

But the truth is that if the players treated referees with a modicum of respect, if players were held accountable when they harassed officials, if those officials felt as though they part of the game and not an obstacle to it,then maybe we wouldn’t be in the position today.

A lot of discussion has also turned to Robbie Keane’s goal against Georgia earlier in the qualifying group. However, it should be pointed out that this was an attempted header that went wrong and bounced inadvertently off his shoulder into the net. Not quite the same thing as Henry’s Michael Jordan-esque dribble in Paris.

It’s easy to see why the story has such legs though. There are conspiracy theory’s everywhere and they will have noted a FIFA officials comment about the desirability of French qualification. They will also have noted FIFA’s seeding of the big countries in order to ensure that Portugal and France couldn’t be drawn together. They will certainly have noted the fact that the referee for the game in Paris was one with a recent history of making hometown decisions under pressure (at a Champions League game in Anfield ) and will believe that the decision to allow the goal proves that FIFA fixed the whole thing. I’m not so sure. Cheating is a common aspect in football, whether it be appealing for a throw that a player knows has come off him, or simply kicking a ball away to prevent a quick free kick, cheating in football is rife.

Finally, Roy Keane’s rant about the FAI is remarkable. Asked a question about Paris he somehow manages to turn it into a speech about himself and what happened in Saipan. Narcissism surely can’t go much further. Roy desperately needs to get over Saipan.

3 Responses to “All Things Football #11”

1. All Things Football #11 | Football Corner N Zoo
   November 24th, 2009 @ 2:29 PM

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2. Saipan Army Air Forces Japanese Mainland « Halloween Costumes for Pregnancy
   November 25th, 2009 @ 5:06 PM

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