Handball Henry.....

I realise this is a bit old hat now, but us golfers always pride ourselves in the fact that the game, particularly at a club level is a self regulating when it comes to adhering to the rules. i.e. not cheating!

There are obviously opportunities to bend the rules, even use them to your advantage, but to cheat is against the very fabric and ethos of the game.

So when Thierry Henry decided first to deliberatley handle the ball to his advantage, for William Gallas to score the goal that took France to the World Cup finals, he probably thought that the goal would be dissallowed. Although by running around the goal to celebrate, he was probably hoping to "Con" the referee. He was probably amazed to see that the goal was allowed to stand, with little or no discussion between the ref and his linesman or the protestations of the Irish players.

To rub salt into the wounds, he admitted the next day that he had deliberatley handled the ball, but it was the referees job to spot it and he did not need to admit at the time and get it changed. He did suggest that the game should be replayed, but only after FIFA had judged that there would be no replay.

Is it because there was so much money riding on the result that he did this? Well certainly there was a lot of money, but so there is in Professional Golf at the highest level.

Cricketers don't generally walk any more when they've snicked the ball to the slips, and there have been occasions when they have claimed a catch when they clearly have'nt completed the catch properly and that is a sign of the increased money involvved. Or is it just the way society is today. (Better br careful here as it's starting to sound very intelectual!!!)

The much maligned Paulo DiCannio showed the right spirit when instead of scoring an open goal because of an injury to the opposing goal keeper decided to kick the ball into touch. Robbie Fowler pleaded with the ref not to award him a penalty when David Seaman had not tripped him up. He even hit the post with the resulting penalty, only for Jason Macateer his team mate to score the rebound.

It's not just a French thing either, I remember Arsene Wenger agreeing to a replay where his team had ignored the protocol of passing the ball back to the keeper when a ball had been kicked off for an injured player and proceeded to score a goal.

Anyway, back to the point re golf, certainly at club level, there are at times errors made due to the simple fact that some of the rules are complex and are, at times, against all logic and common sense. But in the main, most players would never knowlingly cheat and will continue to call the "double hit" which can only be detected by the player himself, or when you realise that you've actually played the wrong ball, or that you grounded your club when you should'nt have. Your playing partner will ensure that that 7 you thought you scored on the 5th was actually an 8 becuase you took 2 to get out of the bunker, which you had forgotten when the red mist came down!

No, golfers pride themselves that the game is played in the right spirit and to the letter of the law and long may it continue!

Monsieur Henry could have made himslef into the biggest sporting hero in the world ever, if he had "called himself" and admitted to the ref there and then, the ref may not have taken any notice, but he would have shown to the world what a legend he was. Instead, he is now, rightly or wrongly labelled as a cheat and will probably be castigated and remembered for this, instead of the skillful player he is.

I don't think Tiger Woods or Roger Federer will want to play with him anymore!!!