Barcelona striker and France international Thierry Henry has stated that a replay of the France-Ireland match would be the fairest solution to the controversy surrounding the World Cup playoffs between the two countries.

Catalan newspaper El Mundo Deportivo reported that Henry made this statement today, hours after FIFA rejected calls from the Football Association of Ireland to stage a rematch of Wednesday’s second leg draw of the World Cup qualifying playoffs. A handball committed by Henry in extra time allowed his team mate William Gallas to equalize for the French, earning them a 2-1 aggregate win and sending France through to next year’s World Cup finals in South Africa.

Henry publicly admitted the handball on Thursday and apologised to the Irish squad in his recent statement, saying that: “Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa. The fairest solution would be to replay the game but it is not in my control. There is little more I can do apart from admit the ball had contact with my hand leading up to our equalising goal and I feel very sorry for the Irish. But 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. I have never denied the ball was controlled with my hand. I told the Irish players, the referee and the media this after the game.”

Meantime, Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola stated in a press conference that Henry’s spirit to win  is correct and, although he would not be proud of such action, he believes that Henry’s handball was not intentional : “It’s obvious it was handball and I believe it was instinctive. I have absolute certainty that the referee did not see it. In such exceptional make or break situations, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to use the video to decide.”