2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches

2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches
Event2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA second round
Republic of Ireland France
Republic of Ireland France
1 2
On aggregate
France qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
First leg
Republic of Ireland France
0 1
Date14 November 2009
VenueCroke Park, Dublin, Ireland
RefereeFelix Brych (Germany)
Attendance74,103
Second leg
France Republic of Ireland
1 1
After extra time
Date18 November 2009
VenueStade de France, Saint-Denis, France
RefereeMartin Hansson (Sweden)
Attendance79,145

Republic of Ireland vs France was a two-legged football play-off held on 14 and 18 November 2009 between the national teams of the Republic of Ireland and France as part of the UEFA second round of qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The first match was held on 14 November in Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland, and ended in a 1–0 victory for France with Nicolas Anelka scoring. The second leg, played on 18 November in the Stade de France outside Paris, France, finished 1–0 to the Republic of Ireland (with Robbie Keane scoring). The tie went to extra time and a controversial William Gallas goal enabled by captain Thierry Henry handling the ball twice made the score 2–1 on aggregate and France progressed to the World Cup at the Irish's expense. After the second leg, Henry admitted to Irish defender Richard Dunne that he had illegally handled the ball in the build-up to Gallas' match-winning goal, which had been scored in extra time with 17 minutes remaining.

The incident led to calls from the Football Association of Ireland and Government of Ireland to the world governing body FIFA for the result to be set aside and for the game to be replayed, and later for Ireland to be allowed to enter the World Cup as an unprecedented supernumerary 33rd team.[1] Henry, previously seen by many in the sport as a fair footballer, was characterised as cheating,[2] with the incident being compared to Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal, and TIME magazine comparing Henry's goal (sometimes called "Le Hand of God"[3] or "Le Hand of Frog", among other nicknames) to a top ten list of sporting cheats.[4] Henry considered retiring from international football due to the reactions to the game, while Swedish match referee Martin Hansson considered quitting as a referee.[5][6]

The result sparked debate on the issue of fair play in football, and fuelled the ongoing debate on the introduction of video refereeing and Additional Assistant Referees into the sport. At an emergency meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee called in part as a result of the handball controversy, FIFA announced it was setting up an inquiry into the options for technology or extra officials in football, but ruled out any changes being introduced in time for the 2010 World Cup. Henry's case was passed to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee for investigation, which ruled that it could not sanction Henry under the text of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference FIFA20Nov09FIFAStatementOnFAIRequest was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference AFP21Nov09IrelandAdmitsDefeat was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Culpepper, Chuck (20 November 2009). "Thierry Henry's handball gets a big thumbs-down in Europe – Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference TimeMagazine19Nov09Top10SportingCheats was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference AFP23Nov09HenryConsideredQuitting was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Guardian24Nov09RefereeConsideredQuitting was invoked but never defined (see the help page).