Football Association of Ireland requests replay of match against France
The Football Association of Ireland or FAI has officially submitted a request to replay the 2nd leg of the UEFA 2010 World Cup Qualifying Playoffs against France on Wednesday, November 18, 2009. The match ended in controversy as France scored in extra time on a goal from William Gallas. Thierry Henry clearly had a handball before passing to Gallas for the goal but it wasn’t called by the referee.
It doesn’t seem likely that the match will be replayed or the Republic of Ireland will get any resolution from this action. Here’s the full story courtesy of Sky Sports with a link to the original. A video report of this story can be found here.
FAI requests replay of France match - Sky Sports – http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12098_5705430,00.html
Republic of Ireland saw their dreams of reaching South Africa dashed in the cruellest of fashions on Wednesday, with a clear handball fromThierry Henry providing William Gallas with the opportunity to settle the contest.
A 1-1 draw on an emotional night in Paris proved to be enough for the hosts, with Nicolas Anelka’s
away goal from the first leg in Dublin helping to see them through.
Ireland, however, are refusing to let the issue lie, believing Henry’s blatant disregard for the rules should not be allowed to go unpunished.
There have been growing calls for the contest to be replayed, to help preserve the integrity of the sport, with FAI chief executive John Delaneyrevealing that the French Football Federation has been contacted in regard to the prospect of re-staging the fixture at the centre of the controversy.
He said: “Video evidence proves there was a clear handball by France’s Thierry Henry which led to France’s goal. It was seen by millions of football fans worldwide.
“The blatantly incorrect decision by the referee to award the goal has damaged the integrity of the sport. We now call on Fifa, as the world governing body of our sport, to organise for this match to be replayed.
“The handball has been recognised by the chief commissioner, the referee observer and the match officials as well as the player himself.
Defining game
“There is precedent for the invalidation of such results by the bureau of the World Cup organising commission. They invalidated the result of a World Cup qualification game between Uzbekistan and Bahrain on the basis of a technical error. The FAI is hoping that Fifa, on behalf of football fans worldwide, act in a similar fashion so the standards of fair play are upheld.
“We have also written to the French FA today and asked them to agree to a replay.
“We have got to do what we have got to do, for the players, the management team and the supporters.
“Every time I go to a Fifa congress all I hear about is integrity and fair play. This wasn’t a league match, one in 36 matches in a season, this was a defining game which the whole world was watching.
“If we are going to believe in play and integrity, this is their opportunity to step forward.
“From the French FA’s point of view, they need to look at themselves and look at this situation. Thierry Henry is their captain. He is a wonderful footballer but does he want to be remembered like Maradona, does he want his legacy to be this handball?”
Fifa have confirmed that they have received the FAI request, but have refused to put a timescale on any decision.
A Fifa spokesman said: “We have received the formal request from the Football Association of Ireland regarding a replay of the match and Fifa will now look at this.”
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