ireland call for france replay after henri handball! can of worms?

The Football Association of Ireland has lodged a complaint with Fifa asking for their World Cup play-off against France to be replayed.
Republic of Ireland were beaten 2-1 on aggregate after France won by a goal which saw captain Thierry Henry handle the ball in the build up.

full and video http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/8368100.stm


I dont think this is a good idea, althogh the irland manager says its for the good of all fans world wide and that the sport will lose its credibility if the original match result is not cancelled because it affects the integrityof the game.

I think its nonsense. mistakes are made all of the time, you could go back to any weekend in the prem and find that a refs mistake was key in leading to a goal. where the hell would you draw the line?

Would we then go back to the liverpool match and say on second thoughts we should not have got a red card so we need a replay of the last 50 minutes with the score as it was? would we be able to go back to every time we did not get a penalty or had a goal disallowed? how could it ever be managed.

if the ref missed it in the game then its tough, maybe the ref himself can be disciplined and maybe even the player could be put to a panel who can vote as to weather action could be taken, but you cant scrap the result and start again!

it would be more realistic for say a 5th official to be watching a screen during the game who has access to replays and can advise the referee or even over rule him??

Put it this way. The goal should be disallowed and the result then stand - but it won't be.

Reasoning is simple - video evidence shows handball AND Henry admits it. It was injury time so FIFA could declare a disallowed goal and end of play.

Ireland lost at home against a France team that played like shit.
They then had 120 minutes to score 2 goals in France, with France still playing like shit... yet they couldn't manage it.

Tough titties, I'm afraid.

After France scored the Hand of Frog goal, Ireland still didn't look like they had a goal in them, just punting the ball long for that great oaf, Dicky Dunne, to throw himself at. Even in the final throes of defeat, they won a free-kick midway in the French half and with all and sundry in the box waiting for a decent ball in to attack, the 23-year-old 'wonderkid' Aiden McGeady still couldn't manage to deliver a whipped ball in... instead ballooning it straight out toward the far side.

Far better to have France and Portugal through to the finals... players like Anelka or Greasediano Ronaldo have more quality in them then nearly all the Irish squad!
(and besides... with any luck, one of those teams will send England packing in the 2nd round! - something Ireland aren't capable of)

Bollox to the Oirish, bet they never supported our case when that cheating little bstard handled the ball for Argentina. You win some you lose some, get over it.

Well I voted for it to be replayed, or just to go for the penalties and start it at a 1-1 draw.

I don't like us being cheated out of results and the refs and FA, UEFA and FIFA are all about the big clubs/teams.

I don't think Ireland will get the desired win should they replay it; however, I think they should be given the opportunity.

At the minimum, Henry should be banned AND FIFA need to walk the walk rather than talk the talk regarding bringing in the video and/or 5th/6th officials so these type of oversights can be halted.

what about the thics of it and where the line would be drawn and issues it would cause?
what do you reckon?
would we end up getting matches replayed left right and centre cos a manager doesnt like a decision and thinks it affected the result?

I just wish it had happened to the Scots!

tim_rigby wrote:I just wish it had happened to the Scots!

The Jocks?? Be involved in a match with something riding on it????

You must be joking!?!

JayJay, it would have to be determined beforehand as to how far the "new rules" would go.

I'm talking was it/was it not a penalty, was it/was it not a goal and that's it.

My sister thinks that if decisions could be reversed and players and managers were fined for diving for a penalty, that would quickly end that problem.

As Keane said are they going to replay the Georgia game as well, after all that was not a penalty.
However,cheating does need to be stamped out. I think the answer is to have discipline panels watch every game afterwards, each member has one or two games to watch and if they think there is a case to be answered they bring the video footage to the committee, where the player can be represented, if the committee in a free vote convict the player of cheating beyond reasonable doubt then they will be sentenced. However, as in the criminal courts the sentence should fit the crime, thus if you cheat in a meaningless fixture at the end of the season you get a three game ban, if you cheat to win the champions league final you get a 6 month ban. In the same way that if you steal a packet of ham you get a fine and if you steal a million pounds you get locked up. In Henry's case the punishment would have been being banned from the whole world cup, I think cheating would be reduced massively.

The referees decision is final!

Game over.

The officials missed something that happened in a crowded goal area, and it resulted in Ireland going out of the competition. I don't think they would have brought much to the World Cup Finals anyway, so I won't be missing them.

Here we are, several days later, and we're still talking about a contentious decision. With video replays it would have all been over on the night and that would be the end of it. I don't want video evidence/replays brought in for this reason alone. I know we have been on the receiving end of more than our fair share of unjust calls, September 1st 1997 ring any bells, but we've also had a couple go our way, Dioufs 'dive' against Blackburn comes to mind.

I don't want this removing from our great game, but I do want professionalism, consistency and honesty from our officials.

You don't want players to be prevented from cheating?