FIFA in State of Emergency Just Ahead of Cup Draw

FIFA has called an emergency meeting of its executive committee two days before the Dec. 4 World Cup draw in South Africa to deal with the fallout from Thierry Henry’s hand ball, violence at Algeria-Egypt games and fixing allegations in Europe.

While the playoffs in Europe led to Portugal, Greece and Slovenia advancing to next year’s World Cup in South Africa, the outcome of the France-Ireland second leg led to demands from the Irish federation for a replay after Henry’s deliberate hand ball set up an equalizer for teammate William Gallas. The hotly disputed goal led to a 1-1 draw and France advanced 2-1 on aggregate.

Henry said the fairest solution would be to replay the match. But FIFA had already issued a statement saying that the referee’s decision was final, the result would not be changed and there would be no replay.

The incident has led to more calls for video technology to help referees make such decisions.

Algeria’s two games against Egypt came 20 years after riots on and off the field. This time, crowds in Cairo hurled stones at the Algerian team’s bus before a first match in Cairo on Nov. 14, injuring three players. Egypt won 2-0, forcing the playoff. And in the following days, mobs in Algeria ransacked the offices of Egyptian companies.

After Algeria won the second match 1-0 in Sudan, Egyptian newspapers unleashed stirring headlines about their fans being attacked by machete-wielding crowds — allegations never confirmed. Sudanese police said there were only a handful of injuries, none of them serious.

The outbreak of match fixing allegations in central Europe has already led to arrests in Germany and Switzerland. Investigators believe 200 games were manipulated, including three in the qualifying stages of the Champions League and 12 in the Europa League, the continent’s second-tier competition.

AP

Your View

See Result