Sarkozy apologizes for Henry’s handball skills
Published: 20 November, 2009, 13:00
Edited: 21 November, 2009, 10:18
TAGS: Sport, Scandal, Football
French president Nicolas Sarkozy has apologized before Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen for the way his country qualified for South Africa 2010.
France eliminated Ireland in the World Cup playoffs on Wednesday, thanks to a rather controversial goal.
An effort from Ireland’s Capitan Robbie Keane sent the teams to overtime in Paris, but it was the hosts who triumphed in the end.
Everybody but the referee saw Thierry Henry helping himself with his hand, before setting up William Gallas to score the decider.
Cowen and Sarkozy chatted at a European Union summit in Brussels on Thursday, Reuters news agency reports.
The French president said he is sympathetic to Ireland's position, but at the same time refused to support their call for replaying the match.
"I told Brian Cowen how sorry I was for them. But don't ask me to substitute myself for the referee, or the French football authorities, or the European football authorities. Leave me right where I am," Sarkozy said.
The Football Association of Ireland has appealed for the game to be replayed. But football’s governing body FIFA has declined any such possibility.
“The result of the match cannot be changed and the match cannot be replayed,” the FIFA statement said. “Decisions are taken by the referee and these decisions are final."
19.11.2009, 12:06
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We have seen over the last week, serious failures in refereeing. FIFA needs to take this all on board, if it wants to ensure the fair play concept it is advertising, really exists. The players 'professionally' have learnt how to deceive the judges, and now see it as part of the game. This is a corrupt concept to base fair play on! We really need the TV replay for all contentious decisions. It is done in other sports, we need it in football as well. We can't have a situation where cheating is undetected, when it could easily be detected, be it a handball or 'induced' sending off or penalty.... Indeed the video could result in a total reverse, with someone trying to get unfair advantage, being immediately dismissed, now that would up the stakes for cheating. Isn't a fair contest the basis for sport? should we make sure we use simple technology to improve the chances of a fair contest.
Sarkozy's communication's advisers had no problems suggesting to that machiavelic comedian to take some advantages of that silly football match. If our president will have been sincere or even smart, he will have requested that the match be replayed (the referee's mistake was so obvious). This would have influenced UEFA and FIFA to adapte football to the modern World. Beside, guess what is going to be the life of Thierry Henry. On every field, he will be the , even if a look at his carreer make him a very decent person. Same thing will occure for the french team and consequently to the whole french society. An intelligent, gentleman-president would have had that kind of elegance and understood what will be the future. Even if probably the FIFA's masters will still have refused. As far as I am concerned Sarkozy is an excited "nullity" (One more proof among so many others). I was a decent football player but this kind of show make me very sad. Pauvre France ! Sincerely. Jean-Claude Meslin