Soccer’s world governing body FIFA ruled out the possibility of replaying the France-Ireland World Cup qualifier yesterday, rejecting an Irish appeal to stage the playoff again after Thierry Henry handled the ball to set up the deciding goal in extra-time.
“In the reply, FIFA states that the result of the match cannot be changed and the match cannot be replayed,” FIFA said in a statement. “As is clearly mentioned in the Laws of the Game, during matches, decisions are taken by the referee and these decisions are final.”
Henry used his left hand to keep the ball from going out of play, then passed to William Gallas, who headed in the decisive goal.
The match at the Stade de France ended in a 1-1 draw, enough to put France through to next year’s World Cup in South Africa 2-1 on aggregate.
Henry admitted later that he handled the ball, but Swedish referee Martin Hansson did not spot the infraction.
In Dublin, the Football Association of Ireland said it had received FIFA’s reply rejecting a replay and that its board would meet to consider the matter later yesterday.
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.
FIFA did order Uzbekistan and Bahrain to replay a World Cup qualifying match in 2005 following a referee’s critical error.
Irish lawmaker Joe McHugh said France should follow the 1999 precedent set by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who volunteered to replay a match in the FA Cup after the Gunners won after scoring an unfair goal.
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