No replay for Republic of Ireland and that's final

Published on Saturday 21 November 2009 10:20

THE Republic of Ireland's hopes of a World Cup reprieve have finally been dashed with both FIFA and the French Football Federation insisting there will be no replay of the controversial play-off against France.

France striker Thierry Henry thinks the "fairest solution" would be to replay the match following his handball in the build-up to the vital goal by William Gallas.

The FAI had formally requested a replay but FIFA responded yesterday with a statement saying: "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."

FIFA's announcement was not a surprise – a senior source at the world governing body said: "There is no way the game can replayed.

"To do so would cause absolute chaos for football. If it was replayed then every match in the future would also be subject to these calls for a replay any time a referee misses an incident."

An FFF spokesman said: "FIFA is the ruler of the game and we have to abide by what they say. They have ruled it will not be replayed so we should move on."