ALLY McCOIST has refused to condemn Thierry Henry for the handball which cost the Republic of Ireland a place at the World Cup finals in South Africa next summer.

The Barcelona attacker has been heavily criticised for his actions in Paris on Wednesday
night, when he handled the ball not once, but twice, before crossing for William Gallas to convert what proved to be the decisive goal. It was enough to earn France a 2-1 aggregate win but it now threatens to tarnish the reputation of one of the greatest players of the last decade.

McCoist, though, does not agree with the disquiet. Although never one to endorse cheating and considered to be a fair player in his time, the Rangers assistant manager refrained from lambasting the French internationalist.

“I am not going to sit here and give Thierry Henry stick,” said McCoist when asked his views on the incident. “Sometimes these things happen in games, things that determine games. If it had happened 30 years ago, with no television, we probably wouldn’t be sitting
here talking about it.

“He definitely touched the ball twice with his hand but I am not so sure it was pre-meditated. Sometimes you get a natural reaction to do that, it sounds crazy but you do. That might have been the case with the handball. Do you want Thierry Henry to hold his hand up, go to the 
referee and say ‘don’t allow that goal because I touched it with my hand?’ That’s not going to happen; of course it is no going to happen.”

So is Henry a cheat, then? Certainly, that is the way Irish
fans, as well as others around the world, see it. McCoist is not so sure. Like most, he has watched it more than once and was not willing to attach that label to the Frenchman.

“Is fouling somebody cheating?” asked McCoist. “It is a fine line, of course it is. I have only seen it two or three times on the news. I think the first hand ball is more of a reaction then he plays it in. It if a definite foul, of that there is no doubt. Cheating? I’m not so sure if it is.

“I don’t claim to know Thierry Henry but he would not have been sitting there getting pats on the back. There would be absolutely no gloating, of that I have no doubt. If anything it would be the opposite, you would be really feeling for your opponents.

“Wednesday night is as high stakes as it gets. That, for me, is higher than it happening at the World Cup finals because the Irish boys will be absolutely
devastated. It is the cruellest of blows.”

McCoist also doesn’t expect to see a player hold his hands up and admit deliberately seeking to gain an advantage from handling or going down inside the penalty area.

“What does the referee do?” he queried. “He has given a decision, if he is seen to change it, which we are always told they can’t be seen to do and won’t do, it is another can of worms.”

The answer, according to the former Scotland striker, is take the decision away from officials by using TV replays. McCoist believes that is the best way for football to move forward and suspects the controversy surrounding the incident could prompt FIFA and UEFA to take action.

“There has to be a collective spirit for that,” said McCoist. “We are in the dark ages. Every other sport, cricket, rugby, ice hockey, they all do it. I don’t know why we moan about referees then don’t help them.