Irish demand replay with France

Ireland's government and football association united in demands for Wednesday's 1-1 draw in France to be replayed, but Irish coach Giovanni Trapattoni dismissed the prospect as “impossible.” In extra time, Henry twice handled the ball to prevent it going out of play, then passed to William Gallas in the Irish box for the deciding goal.

France advanced to next year's World Cup finals in South Africa with a 2-1 aggregate score. At the time of Henry's unpunished handball, the match was 17 minutes from reaching a penalty shootout.

“If that result remains, it reinforces the view that if you cheat you will win,” said Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern — who also pointed out that two French players appeared to be offside from a free kick that preceded the goal.

“Millions of people worldwide saw it was a blatant double handball, not to mention a double offside,” Ahern said. “We should put the powers that be in the cozy world of FIFA on the spot and demand a replay.”

The Football Association of Ireland said it expects the world's governing body to follow what it called FIFA's own 2005 precedent, when it declared invalid the result of a World Cup qualification match between Uzbekistan and Bahrain following a referee's critical error.

“The Football Association of Ireland is hoping that FIFA and its disciplinary committee will, on behalf of football fans worldwide, act in a similar fashion so that the standards of fair play and integrity can be protected,” the Dublin organization said in a prepared statement.

However, even as that statement was being distributed, Trapattoni was telling a Dublin press conference that he didn't expect his squad to get another crack at France.

“I know it's impossible to repeat the game,” Trapattoni said.

Instead, he called on FIFA and the European governing body UEFA to consider video-replay reviews because the injustice suffered by Ireland “can be repeated in the future. That's why we have to stop it.”

In Switzerland, FIFA declined to comment on Ireland's protests.

Earlier, Ireland assistant manager Liam Brady and several players appealed to France's sense of honor.

“If the game's going to survive, it's got to be an equal playing field,” Brady said. “If we're going to have integrity and dignity in the world game, the game should be replayed. And we'll go to Paris to play it.”

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