PLAY IT AGAIN, SEPP

DIPLOMATIC tension between Ireland and France has become intense as the fallout from the World Cup handball affair gathers political momentum.

Last night, Taoiseach Brian Cowen tackled French President Nicholas Sarkozy at the EU summit in Brussels. “We had an informal chat and he fully understood the disappointment of the Irish people,” Mr Cowen said.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy said last night: “Now do not ask me to stand in for the referee of the game or the football decision makers, be they in France or in Europe. What will be done will be done. But leave me out of it, please.

“I said to Brian Cowen, who is a friend of mine as you know, that I was sorry for them and how I was struck by the talent and vigour of the Irish team,” said Mr Sarkozy.

The Taoiseach agreed with the FAI decision to seek a rematch, while Sports Minister Martin Cullen officially contacted the FIFA demanding a replay.

“I am sure you are aware of the enormous public disquiet both here in Ireland and internationally at the unfair manner by which the French victory was achieved.

“I urge FIFA, as the world governing body for football, to organise for this match to be replayed in the interests of fair play and the continued integrity of the sport,” Mr Cullen said in his letter to president Sepp Blatter.

The letter added: “I appeal to FIFA’s sense of fair play as contained in your organisation’s Fair Play Code, which advocates under its first golden rule that ‘winning is without value if victory has been achieved unfairly or dishonestly’.” He said it would be “extremely damaging to the sport at all levels if the public perception is that games are not being played and administered fairly”.

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern also put his political weight behind the appeal to FIFA for a replay and Republic of Ireland coach Liam Brady has called for the game to replayed.

Meanwhile, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said the Government should not enter the fray. “Neither the French government nor the Irish Government should interfere in the functioning of the international federation.”

The FAI lodged a formal complaint with FIFA which said the integrity of the game has been damaged.

“The handball was recognised by the FIFA commissioner, the referee observer and the match officials, as well as by the player himself,” the FAI said.

The FAI said there was precedent for the result to be struck out – FIFA ordered Uzbekistan to replay Bahrain in a play-off for the 2006 World Cup in Germany after the referee made a mistake after a penalty had been awarded.

In the Dáil, Fine Gael’s Alan Shatter said FIFA was “a deeply suspect organisation in the manner in which it does business and it is time for the European regulation of football.”

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said the referee might have a future as a banking regulator, “turning the blind eye and deaf ear to complaints.”

Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil senator and lawyer Lisa McDonald has advised Irish football chiefs to issue a writ against FIFA for negligence.

“If the governing body cannot find a way to offer Ireland a replay for a glaring technical error, then compensatory damages for loss of earnings will have to be sought by way of a law suit,” the senator said.