Written by: Chris Higham

If all that has transpired this week about FIFA and it’s bumbling President Sepp Blatter regarding the controversy surrounding Thierry Henry and the handball incident ( I’m assuming by now that you don’t need an explanation ) , isn’t enough to curl your toenails, then please, Mr Blatter, step forward and stuff your head up your ass with this gem.

It seems that Sepp now considers himself in the “personal security” business . After the handball incident occurred , it seems that Henry and his family had received death threats and naturally there was legitimate concern for the player and his family’s safety. In comes Blatter wearing his clown suit and with the red bow tie and super-squirter, and calls Henry and “assures him of his safety” .

Thierry Henry handball incident seconds before France's winning goal against Ireland

How the hell is this fool going to do that ? Threaten to ban any would-be assailants from buying World Cup tickets ? Maybe he’ll sit his Executive Committee outside Henry’s house as protection ? Damn , I forgot. James Bond is in town. Sleep soundly Mr Henry. No problem.

To add spice to this already comical situation, now rumors abound that Blatter, after having a “man-to-man” conversation with Henry, will now turn around and possibly ban him from playing in the World Cup. Shake hands Henry , but don’t turn your back on this old fool.

If by some chance FIFA does ban Henry, and my opinion is that this won’t fly in a million years, then you can quite unequivocally mark it down as being THE most despicable act perpetrated on any professional athlete by his/her sporting organization EVER . To expect any athlete, in the heat of battle, in any team sport, to stop and police themselves, is crazy. Golfers are probably drooling over this argument , but guys, golf is not a sport, it’s a pastime. ( Ouch ! ). Imagine a NASCAR crew after a race telling the stewards that they took out the restrictor plate. Or an NFL player, on scoring the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl, telling the referee that he jumped before the snap. Madness.

Did Henry cheat ? No . Was he pushing the envelope to try to gain an advantage ? Absolutely. That is why we have referees and rules. The problem is not the players, it’s the officials and the rules, and more directly, the lack of help for the officials. Many observers suggest that diving (or simulation) threatens the future of the sport which I believe it does if it goes unchecked . Players will not dive if they don’t think they can get away with it . It’s like the Justice system or the Tax Code . Take away the loopholes and you remove the crime. Now it’s just a matter of catching them in the act. Understand something here . We will never eliminate cheating or rule bending . The goal is to keep it to a minimum .

Cast your mind back to the late 70′s early 80′s . Tennis fans will appreciate this more than anyone , but remember Ilie Nastase and John McEnroe and how people were outraged by their antics . Why did they create such chaos during the games in which they played ? . It was because of the referee and linesman calls which were at times poor and inaccurate . This led to both players using these situations to unfairly gain an advantage over their opponent by disrupting the flow of play . Some people , including their fellow professionals , called them cheats but they were just examples of how pro athletes attempt to beat the system and the system allowed them to do it . Do you think that if Cyclops had been introduced in those days , that Nastase and McEnroe would have been so obnoxious ? No . They would have had nothing to complain about as line calls would have been accurate . Granted , the technology was not available then , but today , we have all the technology we need . We just have to use it.

Sepp , bring in video replay and help these referees out and make this a better game for all of us to watch.

…………..and while you’re at it , realize that the lump in your throat is your nose…………………………….

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