Exclusive: FIFA Responds to Thierry Henry Handball Incident as France Qualify for 2010 World Cup

(WFI) Reacting to the furore over Thierry Henry’s blatant handball that helped France qualify for the 2010 World Cup, FIFA has restated its support for the trialling of additional assistant referees.

The French striker was seen to twice control the ball with his hand before passing to William Gallas to score the deciding extra-time goal to seal a 2-1 aggregate win over the Republic of Ireland in Paris Wednesday night.

The incident sparked a furious reaction from Irish players and coaching staff and triggered widespread media criticism of the Swedish referee and his assistants for failing to spot the Henry handball.

“FIFA is not in a position to comment on decisions taken by match officials,” a FIFA spokesman told World Football Insider Thursday, quoting the Laws of the Game which state that a referee’s decision is final.

FIFA also declined to respond to comments made by Irish marksman Robbie Keane, who suggested president Sepp Blatter and his counterpart at UEFA, Michel Platini, would be “delighted” that France had gone through. Keane and Ireland’s assistant manager Liam Brady attacked FIFA for its last-minute decision to seed the World Cup play-off draw in favor of the big teams. Brady has asked for a replay with France.

Calls for Blatter to introduce five match officials for FIFA competitions to ensure displays of cheating as perpetrated by Henry are eradicated from the game met with some support from FIFA on Thursday. The system is currently being piloted in this season’s UEFA Europa League.

“With regards to goalline technology and additional assistant referees, FIFA has consistently underlined that it is crucial that the same laws and conditions must apply worldwide so as to avoid any distortions in competitions, including the FIFA World Cup,” the FIFA spokesman told WFI.

“For example, for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, there have been over 850 preliminary qualifying matches played on six continents in order to determine the 31 countries joining South Africa in the draw next month.

“Amongst others issues, the questions of the human aspect of the game as well as the universality of the Laws of the Game have to be taken into consideration.”

The International Football Association Board (IFAB), the custodian of the Laws of the Game, decided at their AGM earlier this year to introduce additional assistant referees into a top-level competition. The season-long implementation in the UEFA Europa League concludes in May 2010.

The FIFA spokesman said a full analysis would be reviewed by IFAB at its annual meeting in 2011.

Rebuffing criticism of the World Cup play-off seeding system, FIFA quoted only from the 2010 World Cup regulations published in July 2007. It said the play-offs were still considered as part of the preliminary competition “and the seeding of teams follows exactly the same process used by FIFA for the different 2010 World Cup qualifying phases in the AFC (5 phases), CAF (3 phases) and CONCACAF (4 stages).

“Therefore the UEFA seeding is consistent with all other preliminary competitions across FIFA's different Confederations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.”

Teams prepare for 2010 World Cup finals draw
The final six teams for the South Africa World Cup were decided Wednesday. France joined Algeria, Greece, Portugal, Slovenia and Uruguay in advancing to the finals. Representatives from the 32 teams participating in the tournament will attend the FIFA World Cup draw in Cape Town on Dec. 4.

Algeria booked its spot at the World Cup with a tense 1-0 victory over bitter North African rivals Egypt. The 'Desert Foxes' made their first finals since 1986. The other African qualifiers at the first FIFA World Cup on the continent are hosts South Africa, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria.

A stunning volley on 40 minutes by Antar Yahia, the France-born defender who plays for German club VfL Bochum, settled the play-off tie.

There was a full house at the 45,000-seat Al-Merreikh Stadium in Khartoum, Sudan, a neutral venue chosen by FIFA for the match. With heightened security measures in place, the game passed without trouble. While there was no repeat of the violence which flared in Cairo after the first leg last weekend, some Algerian fans reportedly clashed with riot police on the Champs-Elysee in Paris last night.

In the other qualifiers, Portugal defeated Bosnia-Hercegovina.. It means that one of the world’s best players, Ronaldo, will grace the world stage next summer injuries permitting.

Slovenia beat Russia 1-0 to advance on the away goals rule, leaving Russia coach Guus Hiddink to ponder his future managing the side. His contract runs out next July.

Greece saw off the challenge of Ukraine in a 1-0 win in Donetsk. And Uruguay booked their ticket to the 2010 finals with a 1-1 draw against Costa Rica to seal a 2-1 aggregate win.

Written by Mark Bisson

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