The Football Association of Ireland have lodged a formal complaint with world governing body Fifa over the World Cup play-off defeat to France, which was settled by a goal created by an unpunished hand-ball offence by Thierry Henry.
The FAI said the integrity of the game has been damaged after French forward Henry handled the ball during extra time in the lead-up to the winning goal scored by William Gallas.
"The hand-ball was recognised by the Fifa commissioner, the referee observer and the match officials, as well as by the player himself," the FAI said.
"The Football Association of Ireland is hoping that Fifa and its disciplinary committee will, on behalf of football fans worldwide, act so that the standards of fair play and integrity can be protected."
Ireland's Justice Minister Dermot Ahern and assistant Republic of Ireland coach Liam Brady have both called for the game to replayed but in a press conference held in Dublin this afternoon, Giovanni Trapattoni said there was no chance of that happening.
"It's impossible to replay the game," he said. "This situation has to give a chance to who is responsible to rethink. It can be repeated in the future and we have to stop it.
"There is a 30-second stop and we clarify the situation. I'm sure in the future they will have to do something about it."
The Italian also said that he wants Fifa to explain their choice of referee for the match in Paris.
Disappointed Martin Hansson did not penalise Henry for the handball which ended the Republic's hopes of reaching next year's finals, Trapattoni added: "All fans saw what happened on the pitch.
"I would only like to say I would like Fifa to explain how they selected the referee for this important game. For this game we needed a stronger referee - an important referee.
"I would give the advice to Fifa - maybe in the future change the rules about the play-off. Play two games and at the end of 90 minutes - no extra-time.
"I think there are mistakes in life...I've seen many situations in football but change the rules. All sports lose credibility with this situation - it affects the integrity of the game.
"I will go to Fifa and advise them 'go straight to penalties'. It's better for football.
Trapattoni admitted it had been a "bitter" experience and for him the circumstances of the play-offs were questionable.
He added: "For me it's bitter. There are many questions - they changed the rules about the seeded teams, then us playing away last.
"There are many doubts that have to be eliminated. Out of the non-seeded teams we were the only ones to play the second game away - why?"
No comments:
Post a Comment