By Mark Memmott

The "Hand of Gaul" will not force a replay of the Ireland-France soccer match that has rocked the football world.

As The Irish Times writes, soccer's ruling body, FIFA:

Moved quickly to dash hopes of a replay of the Republic of Ireland's controversial World Cup play-off exit to France in Paris. ... (Irish Football) chief executive John Delaney had formally requested a replay after Thierry Henry's clear handball in the build-up to William Gallas's decisive goal. The world governing body ruled that the result cannot be changed and the match cannot be replayed.

Here is FIFA's statement:

FIFA has today, 20 November 2009, replied to the request made by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to replay the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa play-off match held on 18 November 2009 between France and the Republic of Ireland in Paris.
In the reply, FIFA states that 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.

We asked yesterday whether Two-Way readers thought the match should be replayed. AS of 7:15 a.m. ET this morning, 59% of those who responded had said yes. There's still time to express your opinion:

Update at 8:55 a.m. ET: The BBC reports that Henry said today that a replay would "be the fairest solution."

categories: Sports

7:20 - November 20, 2009

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