Sad to see Ireland knocked out of the world cup after France equalised with a handball goal. The ball hit Henry on the hand, he then patted it down with his hand to pass to Gallas, who scored.

Ireland played excellently with great spirit and beat France in normal time, I feat that England have failed to do for many years now.

I always thought Henry was a good sportsman, but he really should have stopped play when the ball hit his hand.

Cheating Frogs, they should replay the game.

Latins don't care how they win. as long as they do.

French cabinet minister Christine Lagarde has come out in favour of a replay.

Maradona's goal was the 'Hand of God' - Irish wags are calling Henry's the 'Hand of Frog'.

FIFA have said that a replay is unlikely, flood gates and all that.

But Platini (former French captain and head of EUFA) has not been his usual straight talking self - his silence has been deafening!

It should be said that there is a great deal of unease about this in the French media/public opinion... and quite rightly so.

Of course this result is very wrong...

The FRENCH have a history of bribing officials - they have even done it to win a European Cup.

In addition their biggest ever cheat was in 1998 when they "poisoned" Ronaldo the night before the World Cup Final which they then easily won 3 - 0 against the favourites Brazil. It was a fiasco.

I love football - but I knew on tuesday this match would be fixed. Therefore I did not watch it.

There are certain clubs and national teams that FIX games. In the UK Accrington Stanley survived for years on match fixing bets until they were found out. They nearly got wound up a few weeks ago because without the "match fixing" they have no money.

Big FA Cup games always go in favour of Chelsea and Man Utd. All cup games go the way of the bigger club where reffing decisions are involved ( The clubs say it is because the refs know their players well - joke )

Footbaall is a business - it needs to have the biggest
crowds and interest to make money.

It would be like a battle of the bands where you got a small new band v Leona Lewis or Susan Boyle. YOu know what the result will be for the next round before they even sing a note. Size and money win in a capitalist society where money has been made GOD.

The IRISH should stop whinging and forget about it like England did with Maradonna. FIFA wanted FRANCE at the World Cup Finals and made damn sure they got what they wanted. The Irish should have tried to win the first leg by 2 goals in order to put more pressure on the French and then they may have won. But once they went to France behind there was only one winner.

You can guarantee that if England play France in a quarter final or semi final - we will get treated the same way.

BLATTER and PLATINI are fans of FRANCE and do everything in their power to make FRANCE Numero Uno.

It is the same in the EU - the FRENCH constantly mess up the EU so that they are Number One all the time.

I like french food and the lovely country - but it is time to LEAVE THE EU and run our own affairs rather than be a substate of the FRANCO GERMAN EMPIRE.

Brown is so stupid he has not yet worked out how badly our farmers and our immigration has been treated. We take all the overflow from the rest of the EU - many of whom are criminals and they bus them here out of their own countries.

The UK Government are stupid - but so are the IRISH.

crikey that's some tabloid hatred of the French you have there, BR....

no wonder you read the Daily Mail.

BR's conspiracy theories now extend to football, the topic I will keep to.

Match fixing is not common - but the wrong result often is. Most top sports (Rugby, American Football, Tennis, Cricket, F1 etc.) have video assistance; football does not. Why - I don't know.

One thing is sure though, video technology will be used in South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup; the authorities will not take the chance of another Hand of Frog, or some similar occurrence.

The beautiful game is so fast now (with higher fitness levels, more substitutions etc.) that one on-pitch official is not enough.

Football is my passion outside of music. I usually have a season ticket for my team and I have always watched LIVE a game a week all my life and coached.

Where have I said I hate the French. I hate bent football teams ( Accy Stanley are not French ) and FIFA and UEFA have been dominated by the French for years always ruling in their favour and have been anti-English for much of them.

As for the EU - I did say Franco-German hegemony. This is a historical fact. If you go back to the French Revolution of 1798 you will indeed see how France and then Prussia and then Germany tried to enforce their will on Europe. They failed - so created the EU in order to bring it about because War did not do this.

Yesterday we see a FRENCH speaking President of the EU elected....by a few tinpot Government ministers.

The EU receives loads of UK money - we get immigrants in return who drain our Social Services and Education budgets ( talk to teachers who actually work in these areas or social workers )

I love the way in which anyone who disagrees with the EU is portrayed as a "Little Englander" - this is what is wrong with this country. All debate has been stifled by the PC attitude.

You are being RACIST because you have said I hate the French. Yet I have never said that at all. Easy cheap jibe at my expense.

When I say facts to you ( read the press about the Ronaldo incident ) you claim it is conspiracy theories ( I suggest you google RONALDO and WORLD CUP then google ACCY STANLEY and BETTING ) You will find quality newspapers reporting the facts of these cases.

So this is not a conspiracy - it is not anti French. It is just a plea for FAIR and HONEST play. What is wrong with that ?

The IRISH deserve to go out by the way. They should accept it and move on. ( does this mean I hate the IRISH - oh I am Irish/Italian descent......damn )

BR wrote:


Yesterday we see a FRENCH speaking President of the EU elected....by a few tinpot Government ministers.



why write French in capitals, BR.

And the new President of the European Council has Flemmish as his mother tongue.

Still, it's easy to look past the man himself and say "well, it's because he speaks French" or "Because he is a German Speaker"

what do you know about the man himself... and by the way, why are you mentioning the EU in the same thread as the football scandal... you obviously see a connection there.... what is it?

BR pleas for fair and honest play; there is nothing wrong with that.

However, Rose's video technology suggestion is the answer. Even, slow moving snooker has it, as well as most major sports.

The video referee(s) would independently make judgements on off-sides, hand balls and whether the ball was over the line or not (remember 1966).

Cheating - such as Henry's blatant foul - would be largely eliminated.

Practical solutions are required by FIFA for a game played in c200 countries.

The EU is a separate matter for different people, on another day.

BR wrote:


The IRISH should stop whinging and forget about it like England did with Maradonna.


If ever there was proof you have lost the plot. THIS IS IT.

I can see the argument for video evidence, but controversy is part of our footballing tradition. We can spend ours discussing and arguing about whether a decision was right and we derive great pleasure from it. I can imagine football becoming less popular if it is cleaned up or sanitised by the introduction of technology which eliminates such controversy. We'd have far less to talk about afterwards.

Ireland can feel hard done by, but if the boot was on the other hand I'm sure they would have taken the victory and suggested that the goal was justice for other decisions which had gone against them.

Totally agree. The game is over. The result should stand.

However - more evidence of what I was saying in my original post to prove this is NOT a conspiracy.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8370748.stm

It is good to see that the authorities are taking action because real football fans are totally aware of these things - there are many strange results which are dubious in their origin.

BR wrote:

The IRISH deserve to go out by the way. They should accept it and move on. ( does this mean I hate the IRISH - oh I am Irish/Italian descent......damn )

So Br, why did the irish deserve to go out. They were the better team for 3/4 of the two legs against France and only lost to an invalid goal. Also they didn't lose a single game in their world cup campaign, something England couldn't say. Ireland had world cup winners in their league, who were the biggest team in England's group, Croatia, wow!!!

Also don't make me laugh saying that Ireland should stop whinging and be like England and forget about it. England are still whinging about Maradonna's goal 23 years later. Even though Argentina outplayed them in that game and Maradonna scored one of the best goals ever.

It works great in American Football - each side is allowed 3 requests for video check.

If each team were allowed one request a game (since soccer doesn't stop like US football does) that might cover it.

JK2006 wrote:
It works great in American Football - each side is allowed 3 requests for video check.

If each team were allowed one request a game (since soccer doesn't stop like US football does) that might cover it.
Games like American Football, rugby, cricket and tennis are much more stop-start in their nature and lend themselves more readily to video checks. You cannot apply this to football, at least not without fundamentally changing the essence of the game.

There is only one conspiracy theory worth pursuing here. FIFA needs the glamorous teams with their glamorous iconic players at the World Cup. Ireland had lost this game before the first whistle blew. Money, money, money. It's not pretty, but that's the 21st century for you.

Yes, some games might be better suited to video technology - but it is still the right and only way to go. Are there alternatives - if so, what?

More referees and linesmen? Computer chips in the ball? Or just leave the errors to happen as normal?

The french are really latins, they're gallic.