Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – International football federation Fifa has dashed Irish hopes for a 2010 World Cup qualifying re-match, saying in a brief statement that it had replied to a request for a re-match from the Football Association of Ireland: “In the reply, Fifa states that the result of the match cannot be changed and the match cannot be replayed. As is clearly mentioned in the Laws of the Game, during matches, decisions are taken by the referee and these decisions are final.”
Ireland put in the request after France won Wednesday 2-1 in extra-time when France captain Thierry Henry used his hand to stop the ball from going out of play.
The move was clearly illegal but not caught by officials, and the match ended. A television replay would have caught the move, but football has so far resisted accepting these, although it has become common in some other sports, including tennis and rugby. Sports reporters in English-speaking countries around the world have been scathing about the win and the apparent acceptance of such an illegal move as part of the game.
Links to other sites: Fifa, Globe & Mail, Guardian, UK, Irish Times, Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, the Sun, UK
This work by genevalunch.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.
News story, GenevaLunch, 20 November 2009.
Filed under: Sports
Tags: FIFA, football, France, hand of God, Ireland, soccer, Thierry Henry, World Cup 2010
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November 20th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Do the French People want to go to South Africa on the back of this result – a tainted, fouled, soiled, dishonourable and cheated result? I would’nt think so. By not ordering a replay it seems that FIFA are condoning this cheated result and moreover appear to be in collusion with this disgraceful attempt to push Ireland out of the world cup on the back of a grossly unfair decision. “Fair Play” – i dont think so. Get rid of the slogan FIFA you are incapable of backing up what it implies by example. If France want to go to South Africa then let them do so with honour – achieved only by beating us fair and square. Mabey they are afraid to face us again! FIFA should listen to the concience and voice of the French people the majority of whom want the match replayed in order to remove the stain of cheating which has now decended on them.
November 20th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
[...] over what should be done over the “main de dieu” controversy where French captain Thierry Henry has been accused of cheating in the playoff against Ireland. Fifa has ruled out a replay of the match even though Henry has [...]