Irish decry French 'Hand of Shame'
LONDON — Irish soccer officials accused Thierry Henry of damaging the integrity of the game when he blatantly handled the ball to set up the goal that booked France's place at next year's World Cup in South Africa.
Letters were dispatched Thursday to Paris and FIFA headquarters in Zurich, while Ireland's justice minister took to the airwaves and echoed its soccer association's call for the contentious second-leg match to be replayed.
The Irish were incensed when William Gallas' winner was set up by Henry's handball at the Stade de France Wednesday night,
France coach Raymond Domenech said today he and his players see no reason to apologize for what happened.
Domenech said his team does not feel guilty about the way Henry handled the ball with his left hand before setting up Gallas' goal.
FIFA today ruled out the possibility of replaying the disputed France-Ireland World Cup qualifier.
FIFA said "the result of the match cannot be changed and the match cannot be replayed. As is clearly mentioned in the Laws of the Game, during matches, decisions are taken by the referee and these decisions are final."
But the Irish did get the backing of the French sports teachers' union, which said it set a poor example to children to qualify as a result of "indisputable cheating" and was "linked to a 'very modern' philosophy stipulating that in all areas, including sports, the end justifies the means."
Football Association of Ireland chief executive John Delaney had demanded that the game be replayed.
"I really believe the integrity of the game has been questioned last night," Delaney said. "The governing body of world football have to step up to the plate and accede to our call for a replay.
"Every time I go to a FIFA congress I hear about fair play and integrity. This was not a league game. This was a defining game with the whole world watching."
It was a match heading toward a penalty shootout with the aggregate score tied at 1-1 when Henry blatantly handled the ball — twice — to bring down Florent Malouda's free kick in the 13th minute of extra time.
As Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given and his defenders reacted with fury to the blatant cheating, the Barcelona forward clipped the ball across for Gallas to knock in the goal that gave France a 2-1 aggregate win and a spot in South Africa.
"I will be honest, it was a handball. But I'm not the ref," Henry said. "I played it. The ref allowed it."
As Henry wheeled away to celebrate, Given led the Irish charge toward referee Martin Hansson to protest. It took 97 seconds for order to be restored and the game to be restarted. Enough time, proponents of video technology argued, for replays to be quickly — and adequately — scrutinized.
Much like calls for the game to be replayed, however, video replays are off FIFA president Sepp Blatter's agenda.
The International Football Association Board, the custodians of the laws of the game, halted all experiments with technology to assist referees in 2008, and now tests with two additional match officials behind the goals are under way.
The Irish, though, have an IFAB ally in Scottish FA chief executive Gordon Smith, who continues to push for the use of cameras to rule on disputed goals.
In the wake of Wednesday's match, Smith wants the issue back on the agenda for the annual meeting in March.
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