The Dismissal of a Replay was Worse than Henry's Handball

I was reluctant at first to write about this, and everyone from my non-soccer life was soliciting opinions on Henry's handball against Ireland, but I do have one or two things to say.

I first want to echo Brian Phillips remark yesterday: "Don't call it a "controversial goal." It was a visibly illegitimate goal. Controversy implies a second possible interpretation." There was no 'controversy' here, there were two clear violations of the laws of the game, one of which occurred twice in succession, that were allowed to stand in a World Cup Qualifier. Neither was it simply "very cheeky," as DeRosario or his twitter handler or whomever put it. That it sets up an "exciting" World Cup is debatable, but even so, it hardly matters.

The fact that FIFA/UEFA have nixed calls for a reply at this early stage, with no acknowledgment of the gravity of the error, what it meant for Ireland, economically and sportingly, in my mind raises this issue above the need for a touchline official, or video replay, or better officiating. That's why the knee-jerk dismissal of a replay is in some ways more damaging than the goal itself.

This can no longer be a running joke about Platini and Blatter. This should be treated as a crisis of legitimacy. Maybe the seriousness of what transpired will disappear forever in the plastic lead-up to a plastic World Cup, the drunken haze of the FIFA-approved Fan Zone making yesterday a distant memory. But FIFA and UEFA have done serious damage to the sport they are entrusted to protect. There should be calls for resignations at this stage, and not for the match officials on the night. If it doesn't happen, the world has the right to question the integrity of the world's most popular sport, and the message that FIFA's decision to ignore two serious violations of the game's rules in a major qualifier for the world's most watched sports tournament sends out to soccer players of all ages, in all leagues, from the Yukon to Uganda.

This is that serious.