Fifa payment to FAI over Thierry Henry handball was 'loan to build stadium'
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Version 0 of 1. The Football Association of Ireland has claimed it was paid €5m (£3.67m) by outgoing Fifa president Sepp Blatter to drop legal action over a controversial handball by Thierry Henry that prevented the country reaching the World Cup finals in 2010. Fifa, football’s governing body, however later claimed the sum was in fact $5m (£3.25m), and was a loan to build a stadium, which it subsequently wrote off when Ireland failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. Henry handled the ball in setting up William Gallas’ extra-time goal which ultimately sent France through to the 2010 finals in South Africa ahead of the Republic of Ireland. The incident in the second leg of their play-off, which finished 1-1 to give France a 2-1 aggregate win, was not spotted by Swedish referee Martin Hansson and sparked a huge outcry. FAI chief executive John Delaney confirmed for the first time that Fifa had agreed to the payment in order to avoid a protracted legal row. “We felt we had a legal case against Fifa because of how the World Cup play-off hadn’t worked out for us with the Henry handball,” he told RTE Radio 1. “Also the way Blatter behaved, if you remember on stage, having a snigger and having a laugh at us. That day when I went in, and I told him how I felt about him, there were some expletives used. We came to an agreement.” He said the deal was signed and sealed within four days and was a “very good and legitimate deal” for the Irish FA. Ireland were winning 1-0 when Henry intentionally handled the ball and crossed for Gallas to equalise, taking France through to the finals. In a statement, Fifa said because of Ireland’s failure to qualify for the 2014 World Cup “and in view of the FAI’s financial situation, Fifa decided to write off the loan as per 31 December 2014”. |