Henry's £1bn cash in hand

THIERRY Henry yesterday apologised for the handball that helped France beat Ireland to reach the World Cup finals.
He said in a "tweet" on his Twitter website: "I'm not the referee - but if I hurt someone I'm sorry."


So sorry ... Henry's apology for handball on his Twitter page


Yet the 32-year-old former Arsenal ace had earlier spoken proudly about laying on the extra-time goal for pal William Gallas - claiming that it was destiny and that the strike would go down in HISTORY.


Last night economists said reaching next summer's World Cup extravaganza in South Africa was worth £1BILLION to a nation the size of France.



Simon Chadwick, professor of sports business strategy at Coventry University, said: "There will be a ripple-out effect into areas that are directly related, such as sports betting and magazine publishing.


"But it will ripple out even further to electronics retailers and manufacturers, because people tend to buy more televisions around tournaments too. It's a psychological issue - sporting success makes people feel more optimistic generally and predisposed to buying."


Punters in France - motto Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité - will also pour money into kits, sticker albums, tickets and travel, he said.

Paris-dona ... Henry handles before French winner.

Chris Brady, Dean of BPP Business School, said: "France will get a boost around the tournament, with extra sales of some goods and people flying in and out of the country.


"There's also the general feelgood factor to an economy of people just feeling better - better morale."

Meanwhile Ireland's economy, already mired in the deepest recession in Europe, will LOSE out on about £100million, experts warned.

Financial analyst Owen James, of London's prestigious Centre For Economics And Business Research, said: "Based on figures on household expenditure and other factors I estimate the Irish economy will lose out to the tune of £100million.

"If they'd got beyond the group stage, the gain would be more."


Henk Potts, of Barclays Stockbrokers, said: "Retailers will lose out in terms of numbers of sales, and the leisure industry in terms of the numbers going to pubs and bars.


"Supermarkets would have expected an increase in certain products sold in preparation for matches and bookmakers would expect a lot more activity if Ireland were taking part."

Ruth Lea, former governor of the London School of Economics, said: "The French don't need this boost like the Irish do and they don't deserve it because they cheated.


"Psychologically and economically, qualifying would have been far more important to Ireland."


Gallas's killer goal came after the Irish had battled through 1,004 minutes of World Cup qualifiers.


The team, led by skipper Robbie Keane, lost the first leg of their play-off with France last weekend.


But they levelled the aggregate score in Paris on Wednesday night to take the tie into extra time.

Maradona ... Hand of God goal v England in 1986

And they were beaten only after Henry controlled the ball with his hand before crossing for team-mate Gallas to nudge home.

The jubilant teammates hugged each other as they celebrated at the final whistle.

And Henry said after the game: "You know, I've known William for a long time.

"I don't want to turn it into a night of nostalgia, but we went to school together, we have the same birthday, we went to the Clairefontaine academy together.

Defeated ... Irish skipper Robbie Keane.

The fact I managed to pick out William was a great moment. It will go down in history."

The incident, which echoed Diego Maradona's infamous "Hand of God" goal against England, sparked a furious response from observers, including Ireland legends Niall Quinn and Liam Brady.


Irish PM Brian Cowen is set to discuss it with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at an EU summit.


A spokeswoman for the Taoiseach said: "He was asked if he was planning on raising the matter with President Sarkozy and he said he wouldn't, but he will mention it in person when they meet."


Cowen fumed: "I think that fair play is a fundamental part of the game."


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