Should France be forced to replay their World Cup qualifier with Ireland? The Saturday Debate

By Dan Silver in Mirror Football Blog

Published 05:00 21/11/09

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Every Saturday we'll be addressing the burning issue that you've been arguing about all week in the pub.

This week: Should France be forced to replay their World Cup qualifier with Ireland?

YES says former France international David Ginola.
The former Newcastle, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Everton winger believes FIFA should listen to pleas to stage the match again – just as the FA did in 1999 when Arsenal offered Sheffield United a replay when Marc Overmars scored a controversial winner.

Ginola said: “I was quite gob-smacked. I couldn't believe it because the Irish played so well for 90 minutes.

“They started extra-time with every chance of going to South Africa and then the handball came.

“It was just incredible to see that the referee didn't see it when the entire world did. I think every single person who saw the game, watched the game on TV, saw it was more than just a handball.

“Most of the time the referee is in the right position so he can see all of the action and rule out the goal.

“It seems to me that the other night he was not in the right position and his assistant wasn't as well. They didn't see anything but it was so clear to everyone else.

“There must be things to change in the game. These days the pace of the game is so fast that you have to give an end to a referee to make the right decision because the result is so important to both sides.

“We were quite ashamed in France because winning and going through like that is a bit disgusting.

“Some people came to the French Federation and threw eggs to the gate. We are not very happy in France at the moment because the Irish don't deserve that.

“They did a survey and eighty percent of French people (surveyed) said the match should be replayed. We don't want to go to South Africa like that.

“I also feel concern more about the attitude. After the goal Thierry Henry did not have the attitude of someone who did something wrong.

“He should keep a low profile after a gesture like that and he did not. The same goes for the French manager and the French Federation. You don't have to chant and be very happy over what happened.”

NO says the France Football Federation
The FFF insist they do not need to replay their match with Ireland, despite Henry’s request to do so , as it is in keeping with FIFA’s rules.

The FFF also maintain that Raymond Domenech’s position as coach is not under threat due to Henry’s handball

“FIFA is the ruler of the game and we have to abide by what they say,” an FFF spokesman said.

“What they decide we have to do and they have ruled it will not be replayed. So we should move on.

“The federation’s president and the coach and all of us involved feel that it was a bitter qualification. But we don’t decide how we qualify.

“We played poorly and it came down to a referee’s mistake, but that’s the way it went.

“It happened on our side, in our favour, but sometimes in history it goes against you.

“The Irish were really great, they played brilliantly and we played poorly. We were awful.

“And then at the end we achieved the qualification in this particular way thanks to a referee’s mistake.

“If it had favoured the Irish side well you can imagine how people would have felt and reacted here, the French media, the French team, the FA, everyone.

“You can say that we could have had a penalty just before the end. Whether video is used or not is up to FIFA. It’s not up to us or to the FAI.

“Obviously it’s hard to swallow and we would have felt the same. When you produce a play or a film, you write it before, you know how it’s going to end. But no-one knows with a football match or any sporting game.

“You do not decide before to use a hand. It comes on you and it’s not something that you can control.

“We are sorry and we understand that the Irish fans are sad and angry. What else can we say? That’s the way it goes.

“However, we qualified and for sure he [Domenech] will be our coach. When you manage a team and win you don’t change the coach. Sometimes you do in club football but not in an international team.”

A statement from FIFA added: “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.”

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