Sometimes it is the things that people say that make you scream NONSENSE! This morning it is everything that FIFA don’t say that makes Irish blood boil.
In an official match report entitled “Gallas Breaks Irish Hearts“, FIFA’s official match report dedicates a dozen paragraphs to recalling the terrible defeat for Ireland last night.
Not once do they mention that it was NOT William Gallas who broke Irish hearts, but the deliberate handball by Thierry Henry and the failure by FIFA match officials to act on it when it was reported to them.
Many believe that the match officials were instructed by FIFA to ensure that France made it through to the World Cup Finals – their presence in South Africa afterall will generate a hell of a lot more income for FIFA than Ireland’s. This belief is compounded by the earlier rigging of the play-off draws by FIFA.
Are we sore losers? Certainly not. We fought for our lives last night and the lads did us proud. But when the official match report doesn’t mention this, then we are entitled to be a little outraged:
November 19, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Get onto FIFA’s website – they have a contact e-mail section – let ‘em know what ye think of them………
November 19, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Hi. I am French and I am chocked about what happened. I feel so sorry for the irish team who was stolen his ticket to South Africa. You deserved to go there. We did not.
I don’t know about FIFA that would want the French to go through for whatever reasons. I don’t know much about football anyway. But I know that Henry should have said to the ref. He! this cannot be a goal…
Sorry, sorry, sorry….
November 22, 2009 at 10:26 pm
I noticed the exact same thing. I went on soccernet.com, rte.ie, breakingnews.ie, fifa.com. They all spelled out the details in fine fashion, except fifa.com. Totally glossed over it and referred to it as a ‘controversial’ incident.
Now that the dust has settled a little I think we just have to suck it up. These things happen in football in it’s current form. What we need to concentrate on is what is going to be done about it. That means technology, and that means Platini being removed from his position, or leaving. Doesn’t look like happening anytime soon.
November 23, 2009 at 10:41 am
The plot thickens – http://www.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUSTRE5AM14020091123 – did Henry genuinely feel let down by the French Football Federation or is this more spin and damage limitation?