November 29 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter (pictured) revealed today that he has telephoned France captain Thierry Henry to offer him support over his controversial handball in the World Cup play-off win over Ireland.
“I called Thierry, because he tried to get in touch with me,” Blatter told the French newspaper L’Equipe.
“He was honest by admitting that he did use his hand, but it wasn’t his responsibility to tell the referee.
“When I was a centre forward in my junior team, I definitely gained an advantage by pulling a defender’s jersey in order to score a goal.
“And I didn’t go and see the referee to tell him about it.”
The FIFA chief had previously refused to comment on the incident, prompting criticism from Football Association of Ireland (FAI) chief executive John Delaney, who had accused him of deliberately going missing so as not to get caught up in the controversy.
Blatter said: “In the specific case of the Henry handball, the referee [Martin Hansson] should have taken the time to reflect rather than immediately awarding the goal.”
France’s play-off with Ireland was poised at 1-1 on aggregate in the second leg in Paris when Henry controlled the ball with his hand before teeing up William Gallas for the decisive goal, sparking furious protests from the Irish players that were taken up by the Irish Government.
The scandal was one of the topics that prompted Blatter to call an emergency meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee in Cape Town on Wednesday.
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