FIFA Refuses Replay of France/Ireland World Cup Qualifier

Even though the French are advancing to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, France's captain, Thierry Henry is anything but proud of it, given the way it happened.

We all saw the handball from Henry that allowed William Gallas to score the deciding goal that gave the match to France in aggregate, 2-1. But Henry is admitting to the mishap and said that the match should be replayed in fairness to Ireland.

Henry should be applauded by fans of both the French and Irish national teams in my opinion. He's not doing what the typical athlete would do and try and rationalize the blatant incident. Even though Raymond Domenech, the French coach said that the French team shouldn't be punished for a referee's mistake. He does have somewhat of a point.

This is the 2009 MLB playoff umpiring controversy(ies) TIMES 20! The World Cup is a 30 on a scale of 1-10 and the Super Bowl is a 10. If I were living in any other country besides the USA, it would be the #1 headline on the sports shows there.

if there are any images, i own 0 of them

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• 2010
• world
• cup
• south
• africa
• france
• ireland
• thierry
• henry
• william
• gallas
• raymond
• domenech
• fifa
• qualifying
• replay
• soccer
• arsene
• wenger
• premier
• league
• 1999
• football
• association
• brian
• cowen
• irish
• prime
• minister
• nicolas
• sarkozy
• french
• president

[stallion78]

Let me tell u longisland495. Henry is not to blame. The blame is on the ref. The reason they didnt let the game be replayed is because France is a much larger country and will bring much more money to the World Cup than Ireland would. France has a population of around 65 million and Ireland only 4 million. if it were the other way around i think fifa would make them reply that game. But its all about the money.....

[longisland495]

@stallion78 Yeah I commend Henry for at least admitting the mistake. I imagine England also has a lot of influence too since the Irish and English are rivals.

[phunkyboy]

arsene wenger is pronounced arse-sen venger.

[longisland495]

@phunkyboy thanks for the heads up on the pronunciations.

[darrenw24]

oh my god ssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh

stop talking about soccer. btw its football your football is amercan football. just to clear that up for you

[longisland495]

You're 100% right. Our football is american football, but tell that to US sports fans and the US sports media.

[hoof100]

FIFA are corrupt

[jamesyireland]

Thanks for post and the unbiased opinion but I cannot entirely agree. Henry's guilt is undeniable! He knew exactly what he was doing! He used his hand 'with surgical precision' as one journalist put it! The first touch was to prevent it from leaving the field of play and the second was to line it up for a cross. This was a conscious and deliberate decision. There was nothing accidental about it. If it was instinctive then it was the instinct of a cheat!

[richardflanagan]

The World Basket ball Champions have gone home now They have won the  "World PUP " title... The FIFA president laughed at Ireland being eliminated by cheats ..what a waste of Rules.

[ITHEREONETHATHASNT]

HAHA What know this is hilarious france left in disgrace!

[greenben101]

@stallion78

although ireland has a small population they have one of the largest fan base in the world while france struggle to sell tickets as the manager and team are unpopular

Without a doubt ireland would have used up all of their ticket allocation and brought a hell of a lot more to the world cup with the green army than the shambles that was the french attempt.

[jubolito]

@hoof100 Yeah, FIFA wanted the French in the World Cup just to crucify them and present them as a villain.

[jaxenyakamouru]

It was the refs fault!

[jamesyireland]

@silvermagic2k8 an excellent point. I'd say they've already spent it by now! Living it up in the French Riveira in their new sports cars!

[jamesyireland]

@longisland495 with all due respect, let's get our facts straight! Henry never actually admitted to 'intentionally' handling the ball (which he did)! He claimed in so many words to an Irish reporter that it touched his hand accidently and then looked away cos he knew he was lying! In a second interview with french media his deceitfulness and true disdain for fair play was further exposed, you can see that by typing this in this watch?v=TRLWMeDCx_U

[Albaneren]

nice bro, its amazing how mutch you can, keep it up ;)

[TheWolfMyth]

Thierry Henry! Theirry Henry! Theirry Henry! Thierry Henry!

[silvermagic2k8]

nice video * , As you saw the french stole our dream and even to this day it bothers me , and i hate henry sooo much and honestly i want him dead , i watched both matches and we were sooo close , and what pisses me off the most each french player was awarded £400,000 bonus for getting to south africa , and none of the french players had the heart or decency to give that money to an irish charity or irish childrens hospital someone dat needs the money