Hope for Ireland

Following a huge out cry of NHL jerseys football fans world wide after how France eliminated Ireland through a controversial goal scored by Thiery Henry, FIFA released a statement that read as follows:

"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.

The extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee will take place in Cape Town on 2 December 2009, starting at 15.00."

This is good news for Ireland because the meeting will take place two days before the world cup draw is made in the same city of Cape Town, South Africa. Although a lot if things will be discussed the outcome of this meeting is likely to determine if Ireland will get their deserved replay or not. If FIFA decides that a replay should be played, then the world cup draw will definitely be postponed to a later date.

The man who refereed the 2002 final between Brazil and Germany, Pierluigi Collina weighed on the controversial goal by saying that, time has come for FIFA to deal with the fans concerns over the referrers’ decision.

Before the start of any international game, a slogan is displayed at the center of the football pitch saying, ‘My Game is Fair Play’. It represents the positive benefits of playing by the rules, using common sense and respecting fellow players, referees, opponents and fans. The meeting therefore will be a defining moment for FIFA to lead by example in supporting what the banner says.