DUBLIN—Ireland’s defeat in Paris last Wednesday to an extra time goal scored by France’s William Gallas, was a bitter pill to swallow when it transpired that Thierry Henry had handled the ball twice prior to passing to Gallas. This event has created a firestorm of controversy not limited to simply soccer communities in Ireland and France but the sports community across the globe.
For the majority of Irish fans, win, lose, or draw they have a great time supporting their country; however this incident has struck a nerve.
Ireland is currently experiencing a lot of pain with respect to the global economic slowdown. The government has had to make dramatic cuts in spending; for many the national team’s World Cup campaign was a welcomed distraction.
Just before 2 p.m. in Dublin on Saturday, the FAI (Football Association of Ireland) issued a statement saying that they had done all they could to force a replay. However, another much more vocal group was meeting outside Lansdowne Road Stadium and they were going to march to the nearby French embassy on Ailesbury Road, in a show of support for fair play in soccer—and perhaps get a replay.
Those involved were members of what has been described as the fastest growing Facebook group in the history.
The group is called “Petition to have IRELAND vs FRANCE REPLAYED!!!” and the group was set up shortly after the game by Kev Storrs. By lunchtime Saturday, they had around 300,000 members. Now there are over 400,000.
The site says that another member group is going to organize a similar event in Sydney Australia. The site has this statement: “We may not have got our replay, but once we hit half a million people, we will present this petition to FIFA and demand the introduction of video referee’ing so this does NOT happen again to another team.”
Dublin Event
A modest turnout of a few hundred sang their way to the French embassy. They sounded like thousands and all were having fun while also making a point. I spoke with several members who marched in Dublin, the majority of whom were there with their families. Parents, children, and grandparents all turned up to voice their concerns about what had transpired last Wednesday evening.
Richard Lee from Cork said he was getting involved in a effort to support fairplay. “In the long run we want to see video replay introduced into soccer, make it cleaner and fairer for everyone.”
Shane Carroll, 25, from Dublin was with his two sons and his father, “You don’t mind losing. But when you are trying to teach your four-year-old kid not to cheat while playing football [soccer], and he’s watching this on the television, it is a very hard thing to swallow.”
Maraid O’Connell from Ballinteer who was with her husband, mother, two daughters, and son said, “We are here as a family to protest. I think we have to be seen to be showing how we feel, because if we do nothing this will continue. It’s just not right, simple as that.”
Tom O’Brien from Mayo who traveled with his family said, “There should be fair play and there is not fair play. Ireland are also missing out on a great economic opportunity to go to the World Cup. It would be great for the morale of the country too. Hopefully video evidence will be brought in now and stop this nonsense.”
Vincent Lavery from Dublin who recently returned to Ireland after living in Fresno, California for 50 years where he was a high school teacher and also taught soccer said, “I’m here today because an injustice has been perpetrated on not just the Irish people and the Irish team but on the entire earth, to the degree that this is a global issue. One billion people regularly play this game. We need a resolution to show that cheating is not allowed to happen without punishment.”
According to the mission statement of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), football (soccer) is played by millions around the world and FIFA is the guardian of “this most cherished game.”
FIFA acknowledges that they have a tremendous responsibility, which doesn’t just include organizing the World Cup. It extends to “safeguarding the Laws of the Game. This is what we believe is the very essence of fair play and solidarity.”
FIFA’s “Fair Play” Campaign The Fair Play Campaign was introduced according to FIFA as “an indirect result of the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, when the handball goal by Diego Maradona stimulated the admirable reaction of the England coach, Sir Bobby Robson.”
“Fair Play has a fundamental role in sport and there is a need to apply it to all sporting activities, especially children’s activities. Children need strong values to grow up with, and football [soccer], being a team sport, makes them realize how essential discipline, respect, team spirit, and fair play are for the game and for life.”
The fair play campaign consists of ten golden rules, the first of which reads as follows:
“Winning is without value if victory has been achieved unfairly or dishonestly. Cheating is easy, but brings no pleasure. Playing fair requires courage and character. It is also more satisfying. Fair play always has its reward, even when the game is lost. Playing fair earns respect, while cheating only brings shame. Remember: it is only a game. And games are pointless unless played fairly.”
FIFA has not been very vocal during this whole saga. They’ve only had two postings on their Web site relating to the incident. The first was a match report that hardly mentioned the Henry handball, which had a 1 out of 5 rating from the public. The second was a statement that said, “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.”
The FAI lodged a complaint with FIFA. Their statement read, “Conclusive video evidence of a deliberate hand ball by Thierry Henry, which led to France’s additional time goal, has been seen by millions of football [soccer] fans worldwide.”
The FAI statement went on to point out a precedent for the invalidation of such results. In 2005, the FIFA World Cup organizing committee overturned the result of a World Cup qualification match between Uzbekistan and Bahrain on the basis of a “technical error by the referee of the match.”
“The Football Association of Ireland is hoping that FIFA and its Disciplinary Committee will, on behalf of football fans world-wide, act in a similar fashion so that the standards of fair play and integrity can be protected,” concluded the FAI statement.
The following day, the FAI confirmed that it received correspondence from FIFA, rejecting the Association’s request for a replay of the World Cup play-off match between France and the Republic of Ireland.
The FAI then contacted the French Football Fedaration (FFF). According to the FAI, the FFF responded that they would comply with whatever FIFA decided.
In the meantime both team captains called for a replay.
Irish captain Robby Keane said in his statement Friday afternoon, “On behalf of the Republic of Ireland players, I would like to thank Thierry Henry for his statement this afternoon [Friday] that in his opinion a replay would be the fairest option.
“As captain of the French team, to make such a statement took courage and honor, and all of us recognize that. As captain of the Republic of Ireland team, I would also be happy for a replay to happen in the interest of fair play so that whichever team qualifies, can do so with their heads held high. We can only hope that the French Football Federation might accept the wishes of both captains in the best interests of the game.”
But, on Saturday, Chief Executive of the FAI John Delaney said, “We regret that despite our best efforts for a replay, which would have restored the integrity of the game in front of a world-wide audience, our calls appear to have fallen on deaf ears at the French Football Federation.”
The Irish and French governments were also in close contact during this saga.
