Do you want the Republic of Ireland to

[ronk]

Ireland can protest all they want, they are just wasting their breath. Nothing will change until a football super-power gets beaten in the world cup final by a minnow country by way of a blatant cheat. Then you will see every peice of new technology introduced, until then, we have to suck on the shit that is dealt out by the officials week after week in the domestic game and at every major tournament.

Virtually ALL other sports have introduced technology to aid the officials yet football still have the same way of officiating a game as they did way back in the 1800's, for the biggest and most poular game in the world that is a fuckin joke.

Ireland blew their chance by losing at home and missing two glaring chances during the return leg as well as a cheat from Henry, but was Anelka denied a penalty during that game as well? Ireland failed to beat the poorest French team for many a long year, they need to look at themselves over the whole qualifying period and not just at one incident. If the boot was on the other foot would all the Irish be sat at home moaning about the fact that Keane had handled the ball to get Ireland through to South Africa? Would they fuck, they'd be doing a riverdance across the Liffy.

England moan about Maradonna but i'd be on the piss for days if Rooney handled the ball so we could lift the World Cup, i wouldn't give a shit about fair play then. Football is watched, supported and run by hypocrites, that's just the way it is.

That's simply not true and frankly, it's insulting. The boot wouldn't be on the other foot because it never has been and it was never likely to be. The only way this match wasn't going to be fixed was if France won early on their own.

EDIT: I know the match isn't going to be replayed or overturned, why would FIFA want to change the result they fixed? But Eduardo got a ban retroactively for diving. Henry should be banned from the World Cup and longer. Henry should be dropped by his sponsors, his clean-cut image won't wash with Gillette. The referee should be suspended, FIFA can hardly promote him.

There was an incident that was surprisingly similar in the Leinster-Harlequins Heineken Cup semi-final (rugby) last season. The player involved got a full one year ban (shortened after he belatedly implicated his coach &c.). From a shrug of the shoulders to a knowing wink, players didn't pay much heed to the laws of the game. It won't happen again.

The best action right now would be for Henry to get a massive, punitive ban and fine. Sheffield United sued West Ham for huge money over the Tevez affair. He'll change his tune when he loses half his career earnings.

[Twobob]

Ireland can protest all they want, they are just wasting their breath. Nothing will change until a football super-power gets beaten in the world cup final by a minnow country by way of a blatant cheat. Then you will see every peice of new technology introduced, until then, we have to suck on the shit that is dealt out by the officials week after week in the domestic game and at every major tournament.

Virtually ALL other sports have introduced technology to aid the officials yet football still have the same way of officiating a game as they did way back in the 1800's, for the biggest and most poular game in the world that is a fuckin joke.

Ireland blew their chance by losing at home and missing two glaring chances during the return leg as well as a cheat from Henry, but was Anelka denied a penalty during that game as well? Ireland failed to beat the poorest French team for many a long year, they need to look at themselves over the whole qualifying period and not just at one incident. If the boot was on the other foot would all the Irish be sat at home moaning about the fact that Keane had handled the ball to get Ireland through to South Africa? Would they fuck, they'd be doing a riverdance across the Liffy.

England moan about Maradonna but i'd be on the piss for days if Rooney handled the ball so we could lift the World Cup, i wouldn't give a shit about fair play then. Football is watched, supported and run by hypocrites, that's just the way it is.

That's simply not true and frankly, it's insulting. The boot wouldn't be on the other foot because it never has been and it was never likely to be. The only way this match wasn't going to be fixed was if France won early on their own.

EDIT: I know the match isn't going to be replayed or overturned, why would FIFA want to change the result they fixed? But Eduardo got a ban retroactively for diving. Henry should be banned from the World Cup and longer. Henry should be dropped by his sponsors, his clean-cut image won't wash with Gillette. The referee should be suspended, FIFA can hardly promote him.

There was an incident that was surprisingly similar in the Leinster-Harlequins Heineken Cup semi-final (rugby) last season. The player involved got a full one year ban (shortened after he belatedly implicated his coach &c.). From a shrug of the shoulders to a knowing wink, players didn't pay much heed to the laws of the game. It won't happen again.

The best action right now would be for Henry to get a massive, punitive ban and fine. Sheffield U***d sued West Ham for huge money over the Tevez affair. He'll change his tune when he loses half his career earnings.

But Henry and the Ref and all the officials are just the puppets - I agree they needs to be fucked over Royaly but at the end of the day its those two Bend crooked Twats at the Helm of UEFA and FIFA that have done this and its THOSE TWO HORSE CUNTS who need to be royally frigged off!

Fuck it - If EVERYONE who was Irish or had Irish conenctions Bycotted the world cup until these bastards were gone and shown up for what they were then people would take some notice, it might only be a small dent in the viewing figures but I'm sure the advertisers in each country affected would notice!

[Arjan Van Schotte]

Sheffield U***d sued West Ham for huge money over the Tevez affair. He'll change his tune when he loses half his career earnings.

and THAT, unfortunately, might be the only way ahead. i wonder if the irish FA could sue the french FA and UEFA for lost cash? firstly the whole sudden decision to seed and then the manner of the "defeat". At the end of the day, UEFA have removed the possibility of an Irish payday by not following their own rules... it'd certainly work at an employment tribunal...where's there's blame there's a claim.

cash is the only thing these people understand, the IFA has nothing to lose...

[ronk]

But Henry and the Ref and all the officials are just the puppets - I agree they needs to be fucked over Royaly but at the end of the day its those two Bend crooked Twats at the Helm of UEFA and FIFA that have done this and its THOSE TWO HORSE CUNTS who need to be royally frigged off!

Fuck it - If EVERYONE who was Irish or had Irish conenctions Bycotted the world cup until these bastards were gone and shown up for what they were then people would take some notice, it might only be a small dent in the viewing figures but I'm sure the advertisers in each country affected would notice!

They act out of self-interest. They don't do it if they think they'll be consequences for them and then Platini can't do anything. Platini is a thug, he'll feed Henry and/or the ref to the wolves quite happily to save his own skin. But it will neuter him.

The critical adjective is suspicion. We need to use that word every chance we get.

[feedthegreek]

a replay is,nt fair to ireland, they would lose the advantage they had before henry,s goal.
if the first leg still stands the only team to benefit is france.
they go back to having a 1 goal lead, might even be 2or three up at ht. game over.
the only fair way would be to just have a penalty shootout,
which is what would have happened if henrys goal had not counted.

[ronk]

a replay is,nt fair to ireland, they would lose the advantage they had before henry,s goal.
if the first leg still stands the only team to benefit is france.
they go back to having a 1 goal lead, might even be 2or three up at ht. game over.
the only fair way would be to just have a penalty shootout,
which is what would have happened if henrys goal had not counted.

Agree.

[Fish111]

It's all getting out of hand now with governments sticking their oar in, get the fuck out of football you wankers and concentrate on running your countries. It was football match that was lost by missed chances and a blatant cheat, it wasn't the first time and it won't be the last time a game will be decided that way. Ban Henry from the World Cup? FFS if you banned every player that cheated in the qualifiers then we'd have no world cup to watch. Get over it, put your guiness hats away for another 4 years and settle down and watch England get to the quarters at best and enjoy.
Retrospective punishments? We wouldn't be where we are today without 'The Goat' punching the ball in against Wigan back in 99.

[Wonderwall]

Fifa has confirmed that under no circumstances will Republic of Ireland's World Cup play-off with France be replayed.

Wednesday's second-leg clash in Paris has been the subject of intense scrutiny as France progressed courtesy of a 2-1 aggregate success, secured in extra-time largely thanks to Thierry Henry's now infamous double handball prior to William Gallas' leveller on the night.

The Football Association of Ireland had asked Fifa to replay the game as even Henry conceded he had handled the ball before laying on Gallas' equaliser, which booked France's place in South Africa.

Ireland received widespread sympathy throughout the football fraternity following a gutsy display in the French capital, with a number of key figures championing their cause for a replay.

Final

However, such a request has been given short shrift by world football's governing body Fifa, who insist a referee's decision is final in rejecting the FAI's appeal.

"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 South Africa play-off match held on 18 November 2009 between France and the Republic of Ireland in Paris," read an official statement from Fifa.

"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."

[dazby]

Thing is, they have ordered replays in the past. Cheeky feckers.

[ronk]

It's all getting out of hand now with governments sticking their oar in, get the fuck out of football you wankers and concentrate on running your countries. It was football match that was lost by missed chances and a blatant cheat, it wasn't the first time and it won't be the last time a game will be decided that way. Ban Henry from the World Cup? FFS if you banned every player that cheated in the qualifiers then we'd have no world cup to watch. Get over it, put your guiness hats away for another 4 years and settle down and watch England get to the quarters at best and enjoy.
Retrospective punishments? We wouldn't be where we are today without 'The Goat' punching the ball in against Wigan back in 99.

The Irish government has given over £100m to contribute to the building of the Aviva Stadium and gave even more money again to help build Croke Park (where Ireland have been playing during construction). Irish football has been in the doldrums but at its peak can be a major contributor to the economy.

Getting to the World Cup was massively important in getting the FAI back in a strong position and Trapattoni's salary is part paid for Dennis O'Brien because the FAI are so cash strapped. We'd been working hard to establish ourselves and work our way back up in the rankings to get draws that give us a chance only to have it all taken away under highly suspicious circumstances.

I don't think Irish football will ever recover. Roy Keane split our game in 2002 and Stan drove a lot of people away, the integrity of the game is totally gone, the romance won't return for something so fundamentally corrupt. Don't be so quick to call our government for going in where they don't belong, it affects them.

We're not England, we don't expect to make every World Cup. We can't just presume that we'll be there in 4 years, for us to get there we need to knock out a higher ranked team in the group stages. This time it was Bulgaria.

The culprit here isn't Henry, he's just a cheating cunt, the culprit is Platini. France were going through by any means necessary, fair or foul. Platini, lest you forget, is also the single most dangerous enemy to this club too. He's already said so and he's trying to change the rules to exclude us (and other teams with largesse from wealthy owners) from the Champions League.

Henry should be banned for bringing the game into disrepute. There was a strong movement from the corrupt overlords of football to ban Eduardo and Adebayor (for his celebration), what Henry has done is on a whole new level. This whole thing has damaged the notion of football status as a sport. If you can't compete fairly (differences in resources notwithstanding), then its not a sport.

[Original Dub]

Breaking news on SSN. Henry say "the irish definitely deserve to be in WC"

"The fairest solution is to replay the game".

I don't think its gonna make a difference.

[CityGer]

Breaking news on SSN. Henry say "the irish definitely deserve to be in WC"

"The fairest solution is to replay the game".

I don't think its gonna make a difference.

Did you see K****'s interview??

I've never heard an individual sound as bitter in all my life.

[Original Dub]

Breaking news on SSN. Henry say "the irish definitely deserve to be in WC"

"The fairest solution is to replay the game".

I don't think its gonna make a difference.

Did you see K****'s interview??

I've never heard an individual sound as bitter in all my life.

Absolute arsehole of a man. A fucking disgrace to this nation and he should keep his pikey mouth shut. The last time we were cheated out of it to such a degree was when that cunt walked out on us when we needed him most.

Now he waits until the nation is raw and says he's glad the FAI got their's?

CUNT.

[Twobob]

Equally, when you have Blatter turning arround and saying that Youth development is priority and that he's not bothered about cheating - were does that leave you?

But then, when youth development in one nation is going to be affected so severly by 'suspected' acts of corruption by top football officials and cheating where is does his concept lie there?

With the Eduardo thind he couldnt wait to come out and gob off - where is this piss stained fool now?
When the big bad English football teams are 'tapping up' the ever so precious French youth Platini and Blatter couldnt wait to shout and scream about the injustice - where the fuck are they now?

The grass roots in Irish football are stalling and crumbling because skilled youth players are turning back to playing the historicaly national sports, the boost that Jack Charlton (1990,1994) & Mick McCarthys (2002) run gave Irish football has long gone and its now in reverse - The youth system for getting a small nation, pationate about sports,often punching above thier weight, stronger in the world of football is being ruined by the people who say that Youth Development is thier main priority.

The Corruption of 'rule change' to get a 'Bigger' nation through to the world cup has seen France who had to return 1000 tickets to the FAI for the first leg of the playoffs and I wouldnt be surprised going off the television pictures , if there were several thousand Irish fans littered arround the French in the 2nd leg.

So are France the bigger footballing nation when they couldn't even sell out thier own stadium to thier own fans and on a Saturday night they couldnt even sell thier Away allocation? (By the way The FAI did sell on the 1000 extra tickets within hours of them going for sale on Ticket Master - I know cos I tried to buy one!)

I really couldnt see Platini standing by whilst his country, ravaged by the English hordes, were knocked out of the World Cup while England were in it ...

If I were French I'd be embarrased, A french minister has already come out and said she was appalled that the team got through by cheating and hope FIFA review it.

For FFF - Read UEFA - for UEFA read FIFA...

[Blue in the face]

So, there won't be a replay. No surprise there then.

The choices are simple really.

1) Can a team be seen to prosper from cheating?

or

2) Should France be thrown out of the competition?

I say throw them out and let the French deal with Henry.