France Gives a Hand in Ireland's Elimination

There is nothing more frustrating for players and for spectators than watching a game be decided by the referee. When subjectivity is brought into the game, fair play is often not displayed on the scoreboard.
November 18, 2009. The Republic of Ireland faced up against France in a game in which Ireland had to win in order to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. All was looking great for Ireland as they were up 1-0 and dominating the run of play. After 90 of hard battle, Ireland held off France. However, because France beat Ireland 1-0 in the first qualifying game, the game was extended into extra time for a tie-breaker. At the end of the first extra time period, the entire nation of Ireland rose up in disgust when the head referee, Martin Hansson, signaled that France had scored after France team captain, Thierry Henry, illegally controlled the ball with his left hand before kicking past the Irish goalkeeper to teammate William Gallas for the goal; the goal that would eliminate Ireland from the 2010 FIFA World Cup, sport's biggest stage.
"Henry almost caught it and walked into the net with it," Irish striker Keane said of the incident.
Beyond the blatant handball, replay showed that a couple of French players may also have been offsides during that play. Regardless, the referees were given the power to decide the winner of the game and ultimately eliminated the Republic of Ireland.
It was a "night of shame for football." It left a bitter taste in mouths of many soccer fans worldwide and put into question the fair play standards of FIFA. Fair play is actively supported by FIFA through the Fair Play Award and the Fair Play Trophy. However, after refusing to do anything in regards to this game, the issue has been raised again against FIFA about instant replay and goal line technology, which FIFA had, time and again, opposed and refused.
Talk has been made of future use of instant video replay after the World Cup, but how many instances "unfair play" is needed before FIFA decides to conform? This is not the first instance in which a big game was decided by a missed call by the referees.