Escape to victory: Henry got away with playing the ball with
his hand
The Thierry Henry cheat storm could see Michel Platini's
radical plan for five referees introduced in time for the World
Cup.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has called an emergency meeting of
the world governing body's executive committee in Cape Town next
week and the controversy surrounding the Republic of Ireland's
play-off elimination by France in Paris will be at the top of the
agenda.
The meeting, which will come 24 hours before the ExCo were due
to convene on December 3, has also been called in response to the
hundreds of arrests across Europe by officers investigating
corruption in football.
But Blatter wants to have his say on the double handball by
Henry that enabled France to score the goal that denied Ireland a
place in next week's draw for South Africa and, according to FIFA
insiders, he might recommend to IFAB - the game's law makers - that
they look at Platini's plan for two further assistant referees.
While both Blatter and UEFA president Platini remain strongly
opposed to the introduction of video technology, Platini has used
this season's Europa League as a platform for his proposal.
An additional assistant referee would have almost certainly
spotted Henry juggling the ball before guiding it into the path of
William Gallas and it is understood Blatter now recognises the
value of such a change.
Scottish FA chief executive Gordon Smith, who sits on IFAB,
said: 'I've no doubt Michel Platini will use this incident to push
the system and they may now decide to put it to IFAB that they want
to have it at the World Cup.
'I feel that it has its advantages at the highest levels of the
games. When there's massive TV coverage the problems are
highlighted all over the world.'
IFAB meet in March and normally any change to the laws of the
game - assuming it receives the required support of 75 per cent of
the votes - would not be implemented until the following
season.
But there is nothing in the statutes that says such a change
could not be introduced for the start of a major tournament, with
the World Cup kicking off on June 11.
FIFA's ExCo also plan to examine the violence that married
Egypt's play-off encounter with Algeria in Cairo, in which the
Algeria team bus was stoned.
The governing body said: 'Due to recent events in the world of
football, namely incidents at the play-offs for the 2010 FIFA World
Cup in South Africa, match control (refereeing) and irregularities
in the football betting market, the FIFA president has called an
extraordinary meeting of the executive committee. It will take
place in Cape Town on December 2.
