France captain Thierry Henry has admitted replaying the World Cup qualification play-off against the Republic of Ireland would be "the fairest solution". The Barcelona forward has also spoken of his "embarrassment" at the manner of Les Bleus' victory over the Irish in Wednesday's game in Paris."Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way that we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa," said Henry, whose handball in the build-up to William Gallas' equaliser on Wednesday night enabled the French to go through 2-1 on aggregate."Of course the fairest solution would be to replay the game but it is not in my control."Earlier today, Fifa moved to dash hopes of a replay of the match. FAI chief executive John Delaney had formally requested a replay but the world governing body ruled the result cannot be changed and the match cannot be replayed.Fifa's statement read: "Fifa has today 20 November 2009 replied to the request made by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to replay the 2010 Fifa World Cup play-off match held on November 18th, 2009 between France and the Republic of Ireland in Paris."In the reply, Fifa states that 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."
France captain Thierry Henry has admitted replaying the World Cup qualification play-off against the Republic of Ireland would be "the fairest solution". The Barcelona forward has also spoken of his "embarrassment" at the manner of Les Bleus' victory over the Irish in Wednesday's game in Paris.
"Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way that we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa," said Henry, whose handball in the build-up to William Gallas' equaliser on Wednesday night enabled the French to go through 2-1 on aggregate.
"Of course the fairest solution would be to replay the game but it is not in my control."
Earlier today, Fifa moved to dash hopes of a replay of the match. FAI chief executive John Delaney had formally requested a replay but the world governing body ruled the result cannot be changed and the match cannot be replayed.
Fifa's statement read: "Fifa has today 20 November 2009 replied to the request made by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to replay the 2010 Fifa World Cup play-off match held on November 18th, 2009 between France and the Republic of Ireland in Paris.
"In the reply, Fifa states that 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."
How about not cheating on the pitch next time? En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
But once the cheating has been done, I find that more honourable than Maradona's insistence that he had not used his hand. Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Gandhi
