FIFA ARE not considering a U-turn over their decision to refuse a replay of the Republic of Ireland’s controversial World Cup play-off second-leg against France, despite yesterday calling an extraordinary meeting of their executive committee to discuss recent events in the world game.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter has called the meeting for December 2nd in Cape Town to discuss incidents in the World Cup play-offs, including the game in Paris and the fall-out from the African play-off between Algeria and Egypt.
Also on the agenda are the performances of the match officials in those games, with the Swedish match officials at the Stade de France likely to come under scrutiny after failing to spot Thierry Henry’s double handball in the lead-up to the deciding goal.
Blatter is also likely to condemn Henry’s action, but to stop short of pushing for a suspension for the France captain.
The meeting has also been called in response to the hundreds of arrests across Europe by officers investigating corruption in football.
A statement from Fifa yesterday read: “Due to recent events in the world of football, namely incidents at the play-offs for the 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa match control (refereeing) and irregularities in the football betting market, the Fifa president has called an extraordinary meeting of the executive committee”.
It is understood a replay of the Ireland v France match is not on the cards, but one possible outcome of the meeting could be a proposal to fast-track Uefa’s experiment in the Europa League of having an extra assistant referee behind each goal-line in time for next summer’s World Cup finals.
In a short statement last night, the FAI said they will contribute to the meeting if asked to by Fifa.
“Should we be asked to make any contribution, the FAI would be happy to do so for the improvement of the game,” read the statement.
Blatter will also address the issue of seeding, both for the play-offs – which were widely criticised by players and officials in Ireland – and the finals.
He is also expected to express his concern over allegations of match-fixing. Uefa confirmed last week they has been assisting the German authorities with investigations into corruption and match-fixing allegations relating to up to 200 games in domestic league games in Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, Switzerland and Turkey.
A further 12 Europa League and three Champions League games are also under investigation.
The executive committee is already due to meet on December 3rd on Robben Island to discuss the World Cup draw to be held the following day.
