Henry escapes punishment

Striker avoids ban in summer World Cup

By Lizzie Rose   Last updated: 18th January 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Henry escapes punishment

Henry: No disciplinary action

Fifa will take no disciplinary action against Thierry Henry over his handball in France's World Cup qualification play-off against the Republic of Ireland.

The Barcelona striker faced a disciplinary committee on Monday regarding the incident, which saw Henry handle the ball before setting up William Gallas for the decisive goal.

Fifa said in a statement: "The disciplinary committee reached the conclusion that there was no legal foundation for the committee to consider the case because handling the ball cannot be regarded as a serious infringement as stipulated in article 77a) of the FIFA disciplinary code.

"There is no other legal text that would allow the committee to impose sanctions for any incidents missed by match officials."

The decision means Henry will not face a ban for any matches at the World Cup finals in the summer.