Paris - French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Friday that the second France-Ireland World Cup playoff match, which was decided by an illegal hand ball, should be replayed. "I'm of course happy that France has qualified for the World Cup, but I think it is very sad to qualify through such cheating," Lagarde told RTL radio. "FIFA should take a look at its rules and, perhaps, in such circumstances, replay the match."
Lagarde went on to say that if FIFA's rules did not permit such a replay, then the organization should "change its rules."
The Irish football association has formally asked FIFA to allow a replay of the match.
Lagarde is one of the few French ministers to comment on the controversy over striker Thierry Henry's handling of the ball that enabled him to set up teammate William Gallas for the goal that sent France to next year's World Cup finals over the Irish.
Wednesday's match ended at 1-1, which enabled France to qualify because of their 1-0 victory in the first tie, on Saturday in Dublin.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon have refused to comment on the incident, saying that it was up to sporting authorities to deal with it.
In France, Henry has come in for fierce criticism for making the play and coach Raymond Domenech has been slammed for justifying it by saying that winning is all that counts.
In comments published Friday in the online edition of the weekly L'Express, Domenech said he did not understand why the French were taking so much heat.
"For me, it was part of the game and not cheating," he said. "I therefore don't understand why we are being asked to apologize."
He went on to say that he understood the anger of the Irish. "In their place, I would also have been scandalized. But we are not going to commit hara-kiri because the referee made a mistake... in our favour."
Domenech said that the two-match playoff between France and Ireland for a place in the World Cup finals was decided by France's 1-0 victory in the first match. "That does not seem immoral to me," he said.
The joy of qualifying, Domenech added, "has been spoiled by a bad match by the French players (on Wednesday), by the referee and also by the reaction of the media."
