ArJay
11-19-2009, 08:08 PM
DUBLIN (AP)—Ireland appealed to both France and FIFA on Thursday to replay their World Cup playoff after an obvious handball by Thierry Henry set up the deciding goal.
Ireland’s government and football association asked for Wednesday’s 1-1 draw in the second leg at Stade de France to be replayed. France advanced to next year’s World Cup in South Africa 2-1 on aggregate.
“We can confirm that we have received Ireland’s request for a replay match,” FIFA said in a statement, though it was unclear if the governing body of world football would seriously consider the request.
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Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni called the prospect of a rematch “impossible,” and Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said he would raise the issue with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at a meeting of the 27 EU leaders in Brussels.
“Fairness is part of the game,” said Cowen, who added he would “have a chat about it (with Sarkozy).”
Football Association of Ireland chief executive John Delaney said he doubted that FIFA would respond positively—unless the French football association voluntarily acceded to Ireland’s call for a rematch.
“There is a team that should be in the World Cup today, and that’s us,” Delaney said, “It’s up to them, in particular the French, to recognize there was a travesty last night, an injustice.”
Henry twice handled the ball in extra time to prevent it from going out of play, then passed to William Gallas to head in the deciding goal. At the time of Henry’s unpunished handball, the match was 17 minutes from reaching a penalty shootout.
“If that result remains, it reinforces the view that if you cheat you will win,” said Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern, who also pointed out that two French players appeared to be offside from a free kick that preceded the goal.
“Millions of people worldwide saw it was a blatant double handball, not to mention a double offside,” Ahern said. “We should put the powers that be in the cozy world of FIFA on the spot and demand a replay.”
The Football Association of Ireland said it expects FIFA to follow what it called its own 2005 precedent, when it declared invalid the result of a World Cup qualifying match between Uzbekistan and Bahrain following a referee’s critical error. However, there is no precedent to order a match to be replayed because of second-guessing a referee’s judgment on the field of play.
Swedish referee Martin Hansson, who was officiating the match, said he could not comment on the incident.
“We are banned by FIFA from saying anything,” Hansson said in a text message sent to Swedish newspaper Expressen.
Trapattoni called on FIFA and UEFA to consider video-replay reviews because the injustice “can be repeated in the future. That’s why we have to stop it.”
Earlier, Ireland assistant manager Liam Brady and several players appealed to France’s sense of honor.
“If the game’s going to survive, it’s got to be an equal playing field,” Brady said. “If we’re going to have integrity and dignity in the world game, the game should be replayed. And we’ll go to Paris to play it.”
Some Ireland players accused Henry of lying when he told them that his handball had been accidental and instinctive, and criticized Hansson for missing the infraction.
Ireland left back Kevin Kilbane said replays showed conclusively that Henry “handballed it once and it’s still going out of play, so he’s handled it again to make sure it doesn’t go out of play. … I asked him on the pitch: Did you handball it? And he said, ‘Yes—but I didn’t mean it.”’
Kilbane said he also asked Hansson after the final whistle if he had seen the incident.
“He said: ‘I can 100 percent say it wasn’t handball.’ When he said that to me, I knew full well that he was just lying to me because he hadn’t even seen it.”
Irish lawmaker Joe McHugh said France should follow the 1999 precedent set by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, a Frenchman who volunteered to replay a match in England’s FA Cup after the Gunners won on an unfair goal.
“Throughout the country today there is an air of bitterness. We were beaten unfairly and there is general disgust in France, too,” McHugh said. “Friends of mine who attended last night’s game phoned me this morning from a cafe in Paris to report that the French people are ashamed and do not regard this as an honest victory.”
Ahern said he doubted that FIFA would sanction a replay. He reflected the widespread Irish view that the sport’s powers were biased in favor of ensuring France’s qualification.
“They probably won’t grant it as we are minnows in world football,” Ahern said, “but let’s put them on the spot anyway.”
Several Irish players were in tears after Wednesday’s match and rued missed scoring chances after outplaying France for much of the night.
“We got robbed,” Ireland defender Sean St. Ledger said. “We feel cheated. We were the better team.”
Source: Yahoo Sports
Ireland’s government and football association asked for Wednesday’s 1-1 draw in the second leg at Stade de France to be replayed. France advanced to next year’s World Cup in South Africa 2-1 on aggregate.
“We can confirm that we have received Ireland’s request for a replay match,” FIFA said in a statement, though it was unclear if the governing body of world football would seriously consider the request.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni called the prospect of a rematch “impossible,” and Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said he would raise the issue with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at a meeting of the 27 EU leaders in Brussels.
“Fairness is part of the game,” said Cowen, who added he would “have a chat about it (with Sarkozy).”
Football Association of Ireland chief executive John Delaney said he doubted that FIFA would respond positively—unless the French football association voluntarily acceded to Ireland’s call for a rematch.
“There is a team that should be in the World Cup today, and that’s us,” Delaney said, “It’s up to them, in particular the French, to recognize there was a travesty last night, an injustice.”
Henry twice handled the ball in extra time to prevent it from going out of play, then passed to William Gallas to head in the deciding goal. At the time of Henry’s unpunished handball, the match was 17 minutes from reaching a penalty shootout.
“If that result remains, it reinforces the view that if you cheat you will win,” said Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern, who also pointed out that two French players appeared to be offside from a free kick that preceded the goal.
“Millions of people worldwide saw it was a blatant double handball, not to mention a double offside,” Ahern said. “We should put the powers that be in the cozy world of FIFA on the spot and demand a replay.”
The Football Association of Ireland said it expects FIFA to follow what it called its own 2005 precedent, when it declared invalid the result of a World Cup qualifying match between Uzbekistan and Bahrain following a referee’s critical error. However, there is no precedent to order a match to be replayed because of second-guessing a referee’s judgment on the field of play.
Swedish referee Martin Hansson, who was officiating the match, said he could not comment on the incident.
“We are banned by FIFA from saying anything,” Hansson said in a text message sent to Swedish newspaper Expressen.
Trapattoni called on FIFA and UEFA to consider video-replay reviews because the injustice “can be repeated in the future. That’s why we have to stop it.”
Earlier, Ireland assistant manager Liam Brady and several players appealed to France’s sense of honor.
“If the game’s going to survive, it’s got to be an equal playing field,” Brady said. “If we’re going to have integrity and dignity in the world game, the game should be replayed. And we’ll go to Paris to play it.”
Some Ireland players accused Henry of lying when he told them that his handball had been accidental and instinctive, and criticized Hansson for missing the infraction.
Ireland left back Kevin Kilbane said replays showed conclusively that Henry “handballed it once and it’s still going out of play, so he’s handled it again to make sure it doesn’t go out of play. … I asked him on the pitch: Did you handball it? And he said, ‘Yes—but I didn’t mean it.”’
Kilbane said he also asked Hansson after the final whistle if he had seen the incident.
“He said: ‘I can 100 percent say it wasn’t handball.’ When he said that to me, I knew full well that he was just lying to me because he hadn’t even seen it.”
Irish lawmaker Joe McHugh said France should follow the 1999 precedent set by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, a Frenchman who volunteered to replay a match in England’s FA Cup after the Gunners won on an unfair goal.
“Throughout the country today there is an air of bitterness. We were beaten unfairly and there is general disgust in France, too,” McHugh said. “Friends of mine who attended last night’s game phoned me this morning from a cafe in Paris to report that the French people are ashamed and do not regard this as an honest victory.”
Ahern said he doubted that FIFA would sanction a replay. He reflected the widespread Irish view that the sport’s powers were biased in favor of ensuring France’s qualification.
“They probably won’t grant it as we are minnows in world football,” Ahern said, “but let’s put them on the spot anyway.”
Several Irish players were in tears after Wednesday’s match and rued missed scoring chances after outplaying France for much of the night.
“We got robbed,” Ireland defender Sean St. Ledger said. “We feel cheated. We were the better team.”
Source: Yahoo Sports