Thierry Henry wants a replay, Fifa says no

France's captain Thierry Henry said on Friday that "the fairest solution" to the row over his handball in the World Cup playoff against Ireland would be to replay the match.

Henry renewed his admission that he had controlled the ball with his hand, but insisted it was "instinctive" in the heat of action.

Henry expressed his wish even as football's world governing body, Fifa, confirmed that the controversial playoff will not be replayed.

"Of course the fairest solution would be to replay the game, but it is not in my control," the Barcelona and former Arsenal striker said in a statement sent to Sky Sports News in Britain and other media.

"Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way that we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa."

But as was widely expected, Fifa wasted little time in rejecting the plea. "Fifa has replied to the request made by the FAI [Football Association of Ireland] to replay the World Cup play-off match between France and the Republic of Ireland," the body said on its website (www.fifa.com) on Friday.

In the reply, Fifa said the result of the match cannot be changed and the match cannot be replayed. "As is clearly mentioned in the laws of the game, during matches, decisions are taken by the referee and these decisions are final," it said.

Video replays showed Henry used his left hand to stop the ball going out of play in extra time of Wednesday's playoff in Paris, before he passed to William Gallas to head the goal which gave France a 2-1 win over the two legs.

Henry said: "There is little else I can do apart from admitting that the ball had contact with my hand leading up to our equalising goal and I feel very sorry for the Irish."

He admitted immediately after the game that he had handled the ball, and reiterated that admission on Friday — but insisted he had acted instinctively.

"I have said at the time and I will say again that yes, I handled the ball," he said. "I am not a cheat and never have been. It was an instinctive reaction to a ball that was coming extremely fast in a crowded penalty area.

"As a footballer you do not have the luxury of the television to slow the pace of the ball down 100 times to be able to make a conscious decision. People are viewing a slow-motion version of what happened and not what I or any other footballer faces in the game. If people look at it in full speed you will see that it was an instinctive reaction."