Thetownend.com

Have called an emergency meeting to deal with events during the World cup play-offs.

Not sure which events they are going to be discussing.Probably will end up just being the usual Fifa clap trap.

I'm not sure either.  If only there had been some sort of high profile incident to give us a clue...

What is there left to discuss?  Yes it was a handball, no it won't get replayed, is there much else to really worry about?

apparently referee and betting irregularities

Well it would be funny if the French got screwed. Bloody cheating cunts.

Couldn't agree more.

I'm sure they're just going to have a meeting where they spend time talking about how great they are and what an amazing job they're doing, whilst in between mouthfuls of Dom Perignon, pat each other on the back and talk about what they should do about the Premiership and the massive terrorist type problem English fans create throughout the world.

You've got to wonder if having play-offs for the World Cup finals are a good idea, as they're just a recipe for disaster. With so much at stake, it doesn't take much for it to kick off and then you've got whole countries up in arms.

It looks like its still going off in Egypt / Algeria, the Egyptian government has recalled its ambassador from Algeria they're both still blaming each other for everything though at least the fighting seems to have stopped. Not exactly a good advertisement for football.

FIFA totally fucked up on the Ireland / France game though. They should have made a statement the following day, apologising to Ireland but stating clearly there would be no replay, along with charging Henry for cheating at the same time. Instead its blown up in to something a hell of a lot bigger than it needed to.

To be honest FIFA made a mess of the play-offs, which are not a bad idea in themselves, by seeding them.  How can you seed teams who all finished second in seeded groups in the first place?

That's due to money, as they were scared that Germany and France might not qualify. It was like giving them a second chance, as they were seeded first, then due to the fact they screwed up in qualifying, and finished 2nd, they tried to give them another advantage.

They first did these play-offs for the European teams in qualifying for Euro 2000, when magically England drew Scotland (that was a fix if ever I saw them as they came out first), due to the fact there were more teams due to the break-up of Russia and Yugoslavia.

I agree completely- I just don't know how they can do that in good conscience and get away with it.  Seems a long way from "may the best team win".  Sigh.

Because they have no conscience, and like any sporting organisation that has it's HQ in Switzerland, they are pretty corrupt, where, normally, money talks.

Its a massive advantage to have the extra 30 minutes played at your own ground. The pressure on the officials is absolutely immense, and usually works in favour of the home team.

I think the Ireland issue is done now. This betting scandal is much more interesting.

There is nothing they can do about Ireland now, not without having to replay every other game when a wrong decision is made

It will be interesting to hear more about this betting scandal though

It's a pity that with the likes of the crooked and dithering Fifa and pitiful governing footballing bodies down the line (uefa, fa, Football league) that this sort of thing will continue without being taken to task. The justice desired always has to be sought for from a retrospective point of view, and I wonder if the Lilly livered 'authorities' in Gods beautiful game will come up with a solution for this sort of thing never to happen again by making a decision straight away or bringing in a forward right thinking ruling that will satisfy everyone ? (not just one of the vice presidents that has a vested interest)....... or let's just wait for the next handball and injustice.

Blatter...Warner...Platini... I shit em !

What's this betting scandal then?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=fifa+betting+scandal

;)

It was wrong to change the rules during the competition but there is nothing intrinsically unfair about seeding the play-offs.

The qualifying groups are seeded, the draw for the finals in S.A will be seeded, it's entirely consistent to apply the same logic to the play-offs.

What was wrong was that they only decided to do it because the likes of France and Portugal looked like they may go out.

I'm not sure I agree - the playoffs are essentially the same stage - qualifying - as the qualification groups, and this stage had already been seeded.  On this logic, they should also seed the second round, quarter final and semi final of the world cup.  A consistent approach would be to seed the qualification groups and then allow group position to determine future fixtures - just like the tournament.