Some weeks when I sit down to scribble my few words of wisdom, (A term used loosely I know) I think of the general sporting public and what they might like to read about. Having listened, learned and thought for a while, the same story kept coming to the top. The by now and indeed forever infamous “Hand of Thierry”.
Last week I wrote about reality TV stars taking the place of our sporting heroes. Some people took exception to those comments, but this week may have proved that somewhere in this head of mine, there is some sense. Last Wednesday night will go down in sporting history as one of the most controversial.
Not since Maradona’s hand of God in 1986 has there been such controversy about a footballers left hand. Thierry (insert your own personal insult here) Henry, changed the course of Irish sporting history, (and economy) with one foul swoop of his millionaire arm. The hand ball is unlawful, the fact it was not seen is worse. Who is really to blame though? Henry? The fireman referee? The blind linesman? The FAI? FIFA? Us?. The answer is all of the above. The cheat culture of football has been incubated by all of us.
Every time we see a player dive or attempt to cheat to compete, a blind eye is turned. The FAI are to blame for not standing up to FIFA when the rules for qualifying changed. FIFA are to blame for those rule changes and more. The referee should have spotted the offside, as should the linesman. Henry was faced with a moral dilemma exam and he failed the test. Sport has grown to be such a corporate entity that corruption is no more common place than ever before.
When Master Card, Mc Donalds, Coca Cola and Gillette, (The major World Cup sponsors) sit down to decide sponsorship deals, they want the biggest markets in the World Cup. When push came to shove, FIFA needed the 70 million plus French customers over the 4.5 million of the broke Irish. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but it all makes sense. Take the qualification process for the World Cup. It is designed to make sure that the World as a globe is represented. It has nothing to do with the best teams playing the best.
It has to do with marketing football and it’s sponsors to as many people as possible. It may be the World’s game, the beautiful game, but it is now tarnished more than ever. I will now, as I think many readers will too, think twice about watching football again. For years I thought the best team always won. Little did I know how wrong I was. . .
