World Cup

Pep Guardiola: Thierry Henry's Handball Shows Why Football Needs Video Replays

The Barcelona coach has backed calls to introduce video technology into the game.

Nov 20, 2009 12:25:10 PM

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Pep Guardiola, Barcelona (MARCA)

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Pep Guardiola

The fallout from Thierry Henry's handball in France's World Cup play-off with Ireland shows no sign of abating.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has stepped in to defend his player, explaining to Marca that Henry "is not proud" of what he did, but also defended match referee Martin Hansson.

"There's a lot of debate about this," the coach said. "It's clear that it was a handball, there's no doubt. It was instinctive and at that time he acted and stopped the ball.

"I'm absolutely certain that the referee didn't see it, because if he did see it he would have whistled, as it was handball."

For Guardiola, the solution is to introduce video technology. Many are opposed to the idea, saying that it would break up the passage of play, but this argument does not hold water according to the Blaugrana trainer.

"It wouldn't be bad - if the referee was in doubt, he can use videos. Not much [time] is lost - it's an instant, it's decided and you carry on playing," he asserted.

Guardiola added that the use of video replays would "avoid these situations, which are unnecessary".

Anthony Wright, Goal.com

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