http://www.sportsrubbish.com/2009/11/18/...m-gallas-video/




This one is going down in history right next to Maradona's "Hand of God".

So I assume there is no replay challenges in football then huh? That sucks. It would be incredible if players (in any sport) stepped forward and admitted to cheating to correct a wrong..

What sickens me most over all this is that you could bet your house that if it happened the other way round, and France were on the receiving end of such an injustice, FIFA would be forcing a replay.

Simple fact of the matter is that the powers that be want the 'big' teams in next summer's World Cup, hence the very sudden decision to seed teams for the play offs when it became a possibility that France, Portugal (and Germany at one stage) may end up playing each other.

I feel truly sorry for the Irish.

Has there ever been a replay of a FIFA qualifying or championship match that has been replayed because of a foul being missed? I think you'd be hard pressed to find such an example in mordern times.

It is an acknowledged fact of football that the ref doesn't manage to catch everything. There has been suggestions of video ref-ing, but so far it's not been adapted yet or tested out.

there would be (and won't be soon) any replay for such things, and for a simple reason...

FIFA doesn't want video assistance for referees, and deciding a reeplay would mean canceling referees decision (even if it was unfair) based on video... which they don't want.

when FIFA finally gets out of 19th century, then, probably, such blatant cheats will probably become things of the past.

Fifa are saying that it can't be replayed because the referee made a mistake on a question of fact. If he'd applied the laws wrongly then it could possibly be replayed, but as he made a factual error then it stands.

Having said that, I actually have a feeling something will be done about this. I know FIFA are saying no, but I just get the impression this won't just go away. The play offs were rigged with the late decision to seed (although sure, even if there had been no seeding Ireland may have been drawn against France or Portugal, or even lost against Bosnia), and now this gets the French through, when it's blatantly obvious FIFA wanted them there. The Irish are generally well liked throughout Europe, and I think there's a LOT of sympathy for them. I wouldn't be surprised if FIFA announce that the French have agreed as a gesture of goodwill and in the name of sportsmanship to replay the match again. Would be awesome if they'd give Ireland a wildcard to the finals (thus ruling out any chance of France going out in a replay), but that would mess up one group in the finals so it's very unlikely.

We'll see.

Oh, and it's about time we had a single Irish team for the whole island, like they do in rugby. but that's a whole other story;)

Seems as if the FIFA and FIA for Formula 1 racing being based in France would open up some bias for sure.

Magnifique!

Not quite the hand of god...but close!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_of_God_goal#Hand_of_God

Vid no longer works in the OP

Here is a Gif

http://i48.tinypic.com/24exhy8.gif

Nate

The problem with agreeing to replay the game is that it sets a precedence. Despite this being an exceptional situation in an extremely important game, there'll start to be demands for games being replayed because a goal was scored from an incorrectly awarded corner, etc. Also, if this had been a World Cup semi-final, how do you schedule a replay given the logistics involved?

It's a similar situation with using video replays. What happens if a French player had committed a similar offence in the centre circle, and the goal had been scored twenty seconds later?