A fair and impartial decision for the FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifying game between the Republic of Ireland and France on the 18th of November 2009

The purpose of this petition is to notify FIFA of the undersigned non committal and objection to the decision by both the referee, Martin Hansson, and FIFA (the governing body) of the 2010 world cup qualifier game, played between the Republic of Ireland and France, in Paris France, on Wednesday the 18th of November 2009, on the subject of allowed extra time goal by William Gallas due to a hand ball by Thierry Henry in the 104th minute.

We the undersigned, are duly disgusted and outright disgraced by the decision of both the referee, Martin Hansson, and of all FIFA officials to allow this decision to pass without question.
It is without merit that this decision was allowed and as such a null game should be declared and a replay decided.
There was a blatant hand ball incident that was ignored, if not even acknowledged by line officials, by Martin Hansson, said referee of said game. This incident in accordance with FIFA governing rules, should have been booked and a free kick decision should have been given in favour of the Republic of Ireland.

FIFA Fairplay clause calls into question the decision by Martin Hansson, and as such goes against the "fair play" policy. Due this this fact alone the game should be nullified and a scheduled replay take place in the same location.
Ireland is not looking for an outright win decision, but a mere opportunity to play fairly and compete in an impartial situation.
This has happened before and FIFA has been involved in the situation up front. fifa.com quotes:

"FIFA confirmed today that the result of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany qualifying match between Uzbekistan and Bahrain on 3 September 2005 has been declared invalid and must be replayed. In order to respect the drawn order of the matches, the first leg is to be replayed in Uzbekistan on 8 October 2005, with the second leg match to be rescheduled for 12 October 2005 in Bahrain.

The decision was taken by the Bureau of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany Organising Committee following a formal protest from the Uzbekistan Football Federation concerning a technical error by the referee of the match.

According to Art. 12.4 (b) and 14.1 of the Regulations for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, all protests, including those against technical errors committed by referees, are to be decided by the Organising Committee for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany. A bureau of the Organising Committee may pass a decision in lieu of the plenary committee in urgent matters.

The Bureau, composed of Chairman Lennart Johansson, Deputy Chairman Julio Grondona, Dr Chung Mong Joon and FIFA General Secretary Urs Linsi, took the decision based on the following facts:
1) At the score of 1-0 in favour of Uzbekistan, in the 39th minute of the match, the referee decided to award a penalty kick to Uzbekistan;
2) The penalty kick was taken and led to goal in favour of Uzbekistan;
3) Before the penalty kick was carried out, an Uzbek player entered the penalty area;
4) Consequently, the referee awarded an indirect free kick to the Bahrain team;
5) However, in such a situation, the Laws of the Game require the referee to order the penalty kick to be retaken;
6) The captain of Uzbekistan team protested to the referee immediately after the mistake had taken place and before the game had restarted. This protest was confirmed after the match;
7) This technical error was confirmed by the match commissioner and the referee inspector in their respective reports;
8) Uzbekistan protested the decision of the referee in a written request, asking for the match to be "cancelled" and be evaluated with a 3-0 forfeit result;

The bureau, taking into consideration that the referee in the match in question had indeed committed a technical error, established that, as a consequence, the match needed to be replayed. As a result, the protest put forward by the Uzbekistan team for the match to be considered a forfeit with a 3-0 result is rejected. In accordance with Art. 12.6 of the Regulations 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany, this decision is final and binding."


We the undersigned, are utterly disappointed, shocked and dismayed by the decisions taken by those in power in football.
This is clearly a time to stand for what is right and what is fair. We the undersiged URGE FIFA and those accountable to declare a null and void game on November 18, 2009, and reschedule this game.



Vote for Fair Play, and sign for a replay.