Henry-bashing a misguided witch-hunt

BY CHIA HAN KEONG

FRANCISCO Rodriguez should have caused a bigger uproar than Thierry Henry.

The Mexican boxer not only lost his United States Boxing Association title bout last Friday, but also lost his life after that brutal fight.

It should have made headlines all over the world, for no professional sport should subject its athletes to the risk of imminent fatality.

But, no, Rodriguez's death was hardly noted in sports reports all over the world.

Instead, pages and columns were used last week to slam the infamous double handball by Henry, which led to the decisive goal that dragged the France football team into next year's World Cup Finals at the expense of gallant Ireland.

Yes, it was a blatant breaking of the most basic of football rules - that you cannot use your hand to control the ball.

Yes, it was not spotted by all three on-pitch match officials - thereby allowing Henry to go scot-free with his transgression and Ireland to suffer the agony of not reaching the World Cup Finals.

And yes, it was a classless case of cheating.

But no, Henry's moment of mischief, while causing plenty of distress to the Irish players, did not lead to anyone's injury.

Yet, it roused disgust among fans far more readily than malicious tackles such as Roy Keane's pre-meditated kick at Alf-Inge Haaland's kneecap in 2001 (and the former Manchester United captain's subsequent crowing about his actions in his autobiography).

Such nasty, career-ending moves are somehow rationalised as part of the rugged nature of contact sports such as football or boxing, where athletes dish out physical punishment to one another in the name of rough justice.

Yet, when someone playacts, dives or handles the ball to gain an advantage, it is deemed a dishonourable act of the highest order.

How strangely...macho. To these sportsmen and their fans, one can win only by brute strength in the sporting arena, and not by devious wit.

Henry was castigated to point of ridicule, with many decrying his act as one which would bring about his downfall as one of this decade's icons of beautiful football.

Justifiable? In an era where image is everything, perhaps the football fraternity has over-reacted to a misdeed, and is misguided in its attempt to upholding the game's image as an "honourable sport".

Yes, it is unfair that Henry's act was not spotted.

But it is equally unfair that no one will bat an eyelid the next time a boxer like Rodriguez takes to the ring without as much protection as his vulnerable flesh and bones.

After all, his opponent will be unprotected too - and equality is seemingly all that is deemed important in sports.

hankeong@sph.com.sg

For more my paper stories click here.