Domenech 'no' to replay

Fifa and the French federation were willing to cede to huge international pressure to restage play-off until manager's intervention

Soccer news, Miguel Delaney

Fait accompli: France coach Raymond Domenech was ultimately responsible for stopping the possibility of a replay

Shay Given and Sean St Ledger remonstrate with the referee on Wednesday

Raymond Domenech – and not anyone within Fifa or the French Football Federation [FFF] – was the one who ultimately said "no" as the prospect of replaying Ireland's controversial World Cup play-off second leg against France came painfully close, the Sunday Tribune has learned. Indeed, it has now emerged that almost all bodies, from Fifa to French officials and players, were increasingly open to restaging the game only for French coach Domenech to obstinately block any move.

The FAI yesterday released a statement expressing their disappointment at the decision of the FFF to not replay the game but sources extremely close to negotiations in both Zurich and Paris have revealed to the Sunday Tribune that, behind the scenes, a rematch was a "lot closer than has been presented". Realising the battering the image of the game was receiving and the huge spotlight and pressure a player of Thierry Henry's standing had brought, figures within Fifa were "beginning to buckle".

It is understood one senior Fifa executive, described as extremely close to president Sepp Blatter, was a prime mover in negotiations and made it known that, were the FFF to agree to a rematch, Fifa would have no objection. Coming under immense pressure from both without and within – particularly from politicians as diverse as French finance minister Christine Lagarde and '60s activist Daniel Cohn-Bendit, not to mention ex-players and the general French population – the notoriously conservative FFF were prepared to do so. And when put to the French squad, a majority declared they would have no issue with replaying the game. However, the buck ultimately stopped with Domenech who was reportedly bullish in his refusal.

That fact comes as no surprise given his comments on Friday morning. At that stage, the FAI had already been waiting 36 hours for a response from the FFF to their request for a replay. Yet the first to speak was Domenech then, who declared to L'Express newspaper "To me this is the game and not cheating… We are not going to commit hara-kiri because the referee made a mistake and this time in our favour".

In the time between that comment and the FFF's official response to the FAI on Friday evening, Domenech repeated his refusal to French officials who were by then effectively scared into investigating the possibility of a replay given the ructions on all sides. Once they had their answer, the FFF deflected attention away from their already under-fire manager in an official statement: "Fifa is the ruler of the game and we have to abide by what they say. What they decide we have to do and they have ruled it will not be replayed. So we should move on."

While that appears a deliberate smudge, the FAI accepted the decision in an official statement yesterday. "We regret that despite our 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."

Behind the scenes, however, that was not the case and given Domenech's huge unpopularity in France and the general dissatisfaction with Henry's handball as well the unsavoury manner of qualification, his refusal could yet bring more pressure for a replay.

November 22, 2009

Comments

#1 brian commented, on November 22, 2009 at 6:42 p.m.:

So,the floods are rising,your country is bankrupt,and on top of all that you aint going to the world cup.
looks like someone is not looking favourably down upon you Ireland..in fact someone has it considerably in for you!
why do you think that might be then?
Roy keane is right;"what goes around,comes around!"

#2 Guy Bague commented, on November 22, 2009 at 8:28 p.m.:

Gerard Kean, Charlie Chawke, Bertie Ahern, Pj Magner, Dermot Desmond, Mary Robinson, Ronan Keating, Beverly Cooper-Flynn, Pat Kenny, Bang Bang, Gavin Friday, Michael Flatley, Denis O'Brien, Seanie Fitzpatrick, Miriam O'Callaghan, Linda and Charlotte Mulhall, Ulick O'Connor, Joe Duffy, Brush Sheilds, Harry Crobie, Francis Bacon, Jimmy McGee, Bobby Sands, Pete Brickette, William Butler Yeats, Nell McCafferty, Lisa Murphy. Can You Hear Me, Lisa Murphy? Can you Hear me> Your Boys Took One Hell of a Beating. Your Boys Took One Hell of a Beating (contd p. 94).

#3 Joan commented, on November 22, 2009 at 10:48 p.m.:

brian I do not agree with your opinion. Most of the countries in the world are bankrupt, the floods are an act of God. And the French coach just does not want to risk LOSING in case he loses his almost one million euro bonus not to mention his job! Roy Keane deserted his country over pig headed stupidity 7 years ago are youse related ? :-)

#4 Maire commented, on November 22, 2009 at 11:51 p.m.:

I am glad of the opportunity to say, put it to bed now please, what is done is done and just please let it go. Thierry Heny has appologised and I know that will not let us be part of the world cup but he is a nice guy and no one wants to ruin this man's career, the Irish people are better than that, we are respectful and dignified, we are not going to be able to play the game again and we have to except that and move on. Let's show the world that we are not petty. We have said enough now and we have let the world know that we are not to be messed with. We got through worst things than this, the worst being Brits playing in Croke Park.

#5 Jaker commented, on November 23, 2009 at 3:06 p.m.:

A letter I wrote last week to both FIFA & French Football Federation, France.

Dear Michel Platini & FFF.Fr,
Give Ireland a replay & (France) would probably win the replay because they are a better experienced side. But what happened in the last match was cheating...no matter what your rules are.

I see the children in Ireland, & especially at a friend’s young soccer school being very confused & asking me why French team cheat. These kids are seven, eight, nine years old. It's sad that even they have lost respect for once a great French player, because they know him especially from his days at English club, Arsenal. So...I would ask you as an Irish person to reappraise your decision & prompt your Fédération Française de Football to allow the replay, especially after Thierry Henry said that, that is what should happen. Don't do so & you leave this great player with a lifetime blot on his career that will be associated with him for the rest of his life. Do you want that for him? Give Ireland & Thierry another chance...give Thierry a chance to score a great goal or two in an honest game of football...he is capable as are his colleagues to win without any blemish allowed to stick. Ireland & Thierry should be allowed another chance to right the wrong & for FIFA, FFF.Fr & Thierry to again be respected by children all over Ireland & the rest of the world, because the entire world saw what happened. A lot depends on your final decision...do the right thing...& make football the winner as well as giving Thierry back his greatness. He served you & France & football well...now why not repay Thierry in kind by likewise being kind to him? Show the world that your federation is as much for football the game than for money & business. Then everyone will be a winner, especially the French Football Federation & FIFA. After all, football is only a sport, but a great one when it's fair. It was a beautiful game before the Ireland/France game tarnished it; give it back its "Beauty"!

Jaker, Merci, "Go raibh céad maith agaibh." that means (Thank you FFF.Fr & FIFA, in Irish).

#6 Maire commented, on November 24, 2009 at 12:29 a.m.:

Jaker, if every person on this Island of ours that is rich with food, (the food mountain) of the world, cared as much about the poor unfortunate dying babies the other side of the world as they do about a few guys running around after a ball, the better off everyone would be. Realy a big fuss over nothing, (these kids of seven and eight losing respect for a French player), do you hear yourself. what about what is realy important "LIFE", FEEDING THE HUNGRY OF THE WORLD, now that is something to shout about. Teach these kids of seven and eight who are probably spoiled rotten and have no respect for people anyway, something charitable like helping to save life, FEED THE HUNGRY. There are children the other side of the world at this minute if they saw a ball they would be hoping that they could eat it, so I say to you Jaker grow up and try and write to some Governing Bodies to help get food to Ethiopia and Kenya where at the minute where they are dying from hunger as we speak. People have got so carried away with football down through the generations that it has lead to war for goodness sake. Ireland has always had the name of a good charitable country but I can not stand how far removed from that we have become, we only care about welth and fancy this and fancy that and of course there are poor people in this Country to and I like a game of football the same as the rest but there is a Famine yes a Famine like the one we had at this minute at this second the other side of the world so who the H... cares about a little ball.

#7 Sam Axeyard commented, on November 24, 2009 at 8:09 a.m.:

Everybody wins: France get to go, their manager gets the dough, Ireland get the sympathy and win the PR game, media get to print, talking heads get to whine, politicians get to do their dirty work while everybody's distracted... This is a best-case scenario.
The hand-ball incident is a canard. Ireland still needed another goal, no matter what. Penalties? I saw them miss 3 against Spain in 2002, so that doesn't seem like a good option for Irish soccer players.

#8 brian commented, on November 24, 2009 at 10:49 a.m.:

well said Marie,
the way Ireland views its soccer team is curious,if they are an"escape"from the"real world"then it must be very frustrating that they are CRAP,which you would think would cause even more tension in their already stressed insular little bubbled lives.
As for going to the trouble to write a letter to FIFA-god,how deluded are you!

Share this article

Search

RSS Feeds

Subscribe to The Sunday Tribune’s RSS feeds. Learn more.

Latest Articles
News, Business, Sport or Arts

Advertise here
Click to create

Website by Maithú™

Name	(Required, published)
Email address	(Required, not published)
URL	(Optional)
Comment
If you enter anything in this field your comment will be treated as spam

Comments

Post a comment

Related Articles

Share this article

Search

RSS Feeds