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John Delaney Admits FIFA Paid Ireland Off Over the 2009 Henry Handball

FAI Chief Executive John Delaney confirms FIFA paid Ireland to not protest the Thierry Henry handball game.
Peter Muhly/AFP/Getty Images

FIFA paid the Football Association of Ireland to avoid a lawsuit regarding the Thierry Henry handball controversy in the 2009 World Cup playoff, according to FAI CEO John Delaney.

In an interview with RTÉ Radio 1, Delaney called the payoff "a very legitimate agreement," which immediately aroused suspicion over the legitimacy of the agreement.

In a November 2009 match between Ireland and France that determined which team would advance to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Henry clearly handled the ball inside the box on a free kick, tossing the ball to William Gallas who deposited it in goal. After the match, Henry admitted he used his hand to set up the pivotal goal. "I will be honest, it was a handball. But I'm not the ref. I played it, the ref allowed it. That's a question you should ask him."

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The FAI officially petitioned FIFA for the match to be replayed, but FIFA denied their request.

"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," Delaney recalled during his radio interview. "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."

According to Delaney, the agreement was "signed and done" within four days. Although he claimed to be "bound by confidentiality" from naming the figure, RTÉ Radio reported the payment is claimed to be around €5 million, or about $7.1 million at 2009 exchange rates.

Ironically, France went on to have one of the most embarrassing World Cups for any European team in history. The players actively revolted against the manager Raymond Domenech, refused to train for matches, the team director resigned, and the team drew once and lost twice before getting eliminated in the group stage.