Why it’s the beautiful game…

Anyone doubting the enormity of the World Cup should have been swayed by the events of the past few days.

The deciding 2010 World Cup qualifier between Algeria and Egypt resulted in riots outside the Algerian embassy in Cairo with President Hosni Mubarak vowing in a televised speech that attacks on Egyptians abroad will not be tolerated. Tension in the streets has also reached the diplomatic level, with Egypt recalling its ambassador to Algeria. Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi has now stepped in to mediate between the two countries.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen were also forced to defend their countries after French captain Thierry Henry’s blatant double handball led to the goal which booked a place in South Africa at the expense of Ireland.

For millions of television viewers around the world — gifted with slow-motion replays and different camera angles — it was a clear infringement. In a split second, Swedish referee Martin Hansson and his linesmen made a human judgment based on what they saw — or thought they saw. The incident sparked an international outcry with calls for the match to be replayed, for Henry to be barred from representing his nation on the biggest stage of all and for the introduction of video technology to eliminate cheating.

Fifa, clearly stung by the outcry, has announced that an extraordinary general meeting will be held in Cape Town next week to address the issue. But everyone, it seems, is missing the point. There have been so many other cruel injustices.

Who can forget Geoff Hurst’s extra-time header for England against Germany in the 1966 World Cup final which struck the underside of the cross-bar and bounced onto (or over?) the goal-line. Russian referee Gottfried Dienst awarded a goal and sparked a million debates around the world for decades to come.
In 1986, Maradona single-handedly knocked England out of the World Cup with his infamous “hand of God” goal. More recently, in the final of the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa, Kaka’s header struck the underside of the bar and goalkeeper Tim Howard parried the ball away while referee Hansson (again) waved play on.

For millions of television viewers around the world — gifted with slow-motion replays and different camera angles — the ball clearly crossed the line. But that’s not the point. We know the technology exists to determine whether there have been infringements. However, the global soccer-governing body is well aware that such desperate measures could put soccer on a par with lesser codes like rugby, cricket or tennis where the human element — and human frailties — have all but been ruled out.

Fifa President Sepp Blatter is strongly opposed to using video technology to assist match officials in order to retain the “human face” of the world’s most popular sport. Long may this last!