France Cheats, Ireland Won’t Play in South Africa

France, unlike Ireland, will be playing in the next soccer World Cup in South Africa this summer. It happens right? Some teams make it, some don’t. But this time it isn’t that simple. The problem is that Ireland did not make it to the World Cup because the referee made a terrible mistake. He did not see–and apparently neither did his assistant–that a French player touched the ball with his hand before a goal. That goal put France in and Ireland out.

Sometimes handballs are not that clear. Sometimes it can be argued that the referee did not have a good visual field. Sometimes it can be argued that the player did not mean to touch the ball with his hand. Sometimes nobody catches it. Sometimes an obscure player touches the ball with his hand. Sometimes the cameras don’t have a clear angle. Sometimes the player touches the ball with his hand once. Sometimes it’s just about a game.

Not this time.

This time the handball could not be any more clear. This time the linesman could not have had a better visual field. This time the player moved his hand toward the ball. This time every one caught it. This time it was Thierry Henry, one of the best known players in the world. This time the cameras had several perfect shots. This time the player touched the ball twice. This time it was not just another game. It was about the World Cup.

The final score was tied 1:1. And it wasn’t Thierry Henry who scored the goal. Henry touched the ball with his hand twice and then passed it to his teammate William Gallas, who scored for France. But those are superfluous details. What will be remembered by most people is that Thierry Henry and the entire French team cheated their way to the World Cup.

The Irish are furious. There have been talks about repeating the match. FIFA has made it clear that the game, which took place on Nov. 18 at the Stade de France Stadium in Saint Denis, will not take place again. Terrible news for Ireland.