Platini backs Henry handball referee
Reuters - Saturday 06 February 2010, 18:34
WARSAW - Swedish referee Martin Hansson,
who was at the centre of the Thierry Henry handball controversy
in France's World Cup qualification, deserved to be picked for
the finals, UEFA president Michel Platini said on Saturday.
Hansson, widely criticised for failing to spot the handball
that led to France scoring the decisive goal in the second leg
of their play-off against Ireland, was named on Friday among the
30 referees for the tournament in South Africa in June.
"FIFA made the correct decision to put him forward because
he is not the person responsible for what happened," Platini
told a news conference.
"He didn't see Henry's handball when it happened... although
everyone saw it on the television afterwards... and I'm not sure
we could identify this as a referee's error.
"He has officiated other games which were very difficult for
referees and he did excellently."
Television replays showed Henry twice touched the ball
before William Gallas bundled it over the line in extra time to
give France a 1-1 draw in the return leg of the November match.
France won the play-off 2-1 on aggregate to reach the finals
in South Africa and spark one of the biggest outcries in World
Cup history.
Last month, FIFA decided there was no mechanism for
punishing Henry for his part in the incident.
Platini said he hoped football's law-making body, the
International Football Association Board, would approve the
recent experiment in the Europa League, where an extra assistant
was placed behind each goal to help the referee.
"Other sports such as basketball and volleyball have made
changes, but in football the number of referees has always been
the same," he said.
The Frenchman also agreed with world governing body FIFA's
inclusion of two referees from New Zealand in the list for the
World Cup - more than major nations such as Brazil,
Argentina, Germany, England, France and Italy.
"They can be just as good as French and Italian referees, I
don't see any reason why they can't go to the World Cup just
because they're from New Zealand and Oceania.
"Football is not just about western Europe, it's big all
over the world."