France’s decisive goal against Ireland in their World Cup play-off will only add further weight to the case for using a video ref, or extra goal-line officials, at least in the biggest matches.

The controversial extra-time strike from William Gallas took France through to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, while leaving the Irish barely able to contain a sense of frustration and injustice.

It was goal which should not have stood, as TV pictures made plain. French captain Thierry Henry clearly handled the ball, not once, but twice before crossing for Gallas to score from close range.

Once again, fans are wondering how a mistake of such magnitude, in such a high-stakes game,  could be allowed to happen.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA chief Michel Platini both disagree with the use of video referees but their case would have been a hard one to make in front of Irish fans on Wednesday. Soccer’s top officials say a video referee will only slow down the game. True enough, but would it not be better to stop the game and get the right decision rather than continue and see a faulty decision stand?

Platini, for his part, has managed to push through the idea of an extra official behind both goals with an eye on spotting such infringements. Currently the idea is being piloted in UEFA’s second-tier Europa League, but it may now be time to take the brave decision to introduce this across the board.

If we see another “Hand of God” moment in South Africa, perhaps one that decides the final, will football’s reputation survive it?

TO: France’s team captain Thierry Henry reacts in their World Cup qualifying playoff return leg match against Ireland at the Stade de France stadium in Saint Denis near Paris November 18, 2009. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

UEFA’s decision to hand Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva a two-match ban for diving has infuriated the Croatian media, many fans and national team coach Slaven Bilic.

“It is a shameful decision, especially in view of the fact that Eduardo personifies everything that’s decent in professional sport,” Bilic told Zagreb daily Vecernji List after learning the verdict.

Fans and media have gone to even greater length in defending the Brazilian-born Croatia striker, who has won the hearts and sympathy of his adopted country after recovering from a horrific leg break he suffered in Arsenal’s Premier League match at Birmingham in February 2008.

The sense of injustice in Croatia wasn’t helped by last weekend’s injury suffered by Tottenham playmaker Luka Modric, who faces up to six weeks on the sidelines after breaking his leg in a league match with Birmingham (again).

Croatia’s leading sports website, www.sportnet.hr, had harsh words.

“Eduardo has been punished in a most detestable manner, supposedly so that justice is done, while justice was deaf, dumb and blind only 18 months earlier when he was in bed with his ankle shattered and his career hanging by a thread,” the website said.

Is Eduardo a victim of double standards, or simply his own ill-judged decision to go down rather easily after minimum or no contact with the goalkeeper?

PHOTO: Croatia manager Slaven Bilic speaks with Luka Modric (L) and Eduardo Da Silva (R) during a training session at Poljud stadium in Split, February 5, 2008. Reuters stringer photo.

The draw for the group phase of the 2009-10 Champions League has just finished in Monaco and it’s thrown up a couple of groups to savour especially.

Real Madrid getting drawn in Group C means they will face AC Milan … and that means a return to the San Siro for Kaka, who made the switch over the close season. Likewise, Barcelona’s big signing Zlatan ibrahimovic will be on his way back to Milan, after Inter joined the holders in Group F.

Plenty of other intriguing match-ups … Any of them catch your eye?

Group A: Bayern Munich, Juventus, Girondins Bordeaux, Maccabi Haifa

Group B: Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, Besiktas, VfL Wolfsburg

Group C: AC Milan, Real Madrid, Olympique Marseille, FC Zurich

Group D: Chelsea, Porto, Atletico Madrid, APOEL

Group E: Liverpool, Olympique Lyon, Fiorentina, Debrecen

Group F: Barcelona, Inter Milan, Dynamo Kiev, Rubin Kazan

Group G: Sevilla, Rangers, VfB Stuttgart, Unirea Urziceni

Group H: Arsenal, AZ Alkmaar, Olympiakos, Standard Liege

PHOTO: Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta holds the trophy after their Champions League final soccer match victory against Manchester United at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, May 27, 2009. REUTERS/Darren Staples

Now that the dust has settled on the Ronaldo story (at least until he actually signs) I wanted to go back to something that bothered me about last week’s on-field action.

Former England striker Jimmy Greaves summed it up quite well at half-time during England’s 6-0 thrashing of Andorra in a World Cup qualifier.

“Have you ever seen a team this bad at Wembley?” Greaves, one of several members of the 1996 World Cup squad to be given belated winners medals after missing the final, said when interviewed by ITV.

Greaves went on to question the sanity of the near 60,000 fans who bought tickets to watch England beat a side that would struggle to survive in the fourth tier of English club football.

It wasn’t quite what ITV wanted to hear after desperately trying to stoke interest in the miss-match but the outspoken Greaves made a very good point before we were returned hurriedly to the studio.

The likes of Andorra and San Marino may belong to the FIFA family but they offer absolutely nothing to football at this level.

There sole objective is to avoid a double-figure thrashing which they usually achieve by positioning 11 players behind the ball and never venturing over the halfway line.

Apart from the three points pocketed by the teams facing them and the chance for strikers to skew their goalscoring stats the matches are… pointless.

Andorra have managed just three wins in 84 internationals with a combined goal difference of minus 203. San Marino are even worse, having managed just a solitary win in a friendly against Liechtenstein.

It is now time for FIFA and UEFA to act and stop these excuses for games of football.

Nobody is advocating banning them, but a system whereby the minnows must come through a pre-qualifying group before getting to face the big guns would at least weed out the country’s who are just cluttering the schedule.

By playing against nations of a similar standing it might even encourage them to try and score goals and ultimately improve their level of play.

Yet again I find myself asking the question: why did UEFA award Euro 2012 to Poland and Ukraine?

Questions marks have again been raised over the decision by European soccer’s governing body after it was yet again forced to set another deadline for Ukraine to meet is criteria for a number of its venues.

So has anything changed since I wrote a blog from the UEFA crunch meeting in Bordeaux last September when both countries were given a final warning over their lacklustre preparations for European soccer’s top event?

Poland seems to have made steady progress on its stadiums at least but UEFA sources say the related infastructure such as transport links and accommodation are still questionable.

Ukraine, reeling from the impact of the worst financial crisis in nearly 80 years, is still way behind and has been warned they risk losing the right to stage the final in Kiev if they don’t get their act together before November 30.

How many warnings does a country need before delivering upon its promises? Does UEFA have a plan B if the Kiev government fails to meet the deadline?

Or as some cynical analysts suggest, is this a neat exit strategy for Ukraine? It has been one of the countries hardest hit by the global economic slump, having had to ask for a huge loan from the International Monetary Fund.

Some commentators say if UEFA takes away the final or there is a major imbalance between the number of games played in Ukraine compared to neighbouring Poland, Kiev may use it as an excuse to withdraw and save face by blaming the governing body and its co-host.

Ukrainian officials have played down any worries and say they expect four cities from each nation to host matches.

Whatever happens — even if Ukraine and Poland manage to satisfy UEFA in November — the decision to allow the two to stage the event will haunt the governig body and its president Michel Platini for some time to come.

PHOTO: UEFA President Michel Platini speaks to the media during a news conference in Warsaw April 16, 2009. REUTERS/Peter Andrews

Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher will miss the Champions League final in Rome later this month after UEFA said there was no chance of overturning the red card he received against Arsenal on Tuesday.

Fletcher conceded a penalty in United’s 3-1 semi-final second leg win in London after he brought down Cesc Fabregas, but replays showed he touched the ball first.

UEFA spokesman Rob Faulkner said: “Manchester United have the right to protest the decision within 24 hours of the match. However the protest is only admissible if the referee made an error and mistakenly identified and cautioned or sent off the wrong player.

“There cannot be an appeal against a factual decision taken by the referee, and there is nothing to indicate that the referee made a mistake in identifying Fletcher as the player he penalised last night.”

Sending offs can be appealed in the Premier League, so why not in Europe? Can it be classed as a factual decision if someone thinks it was wrong?

On the other hand, goals can not be rescinded if they turn out to be offside on replays.

There’s a school of thought that players should not be banned for finals. If they do something really awful then ok, but otherwise it may be better to carry the ban over to the next season if it is really necessary.

If Fletcher did foul Fabregas, he hurt Arsenal, not Chelsea or Barcelona.

A final is the pinnacle of a player’s career and to rob him off playing on the greatest stage for something minor seems a shame to some.

Paul Scholes and Roy Keane missed out in 1999 while there have been many others, but it looks like UEFA will not budge.

For blogs on sports other than soccer, please click on http://blogs.reuters.com/sport

PHOTO: Darren Fletcher (L) of Manchester United is shown the red card by referee Roberto Rosetti as team mate Rio Ferdinand (C) reacts during their Champions League second leg semi-final soccer match against Arsenal at the Emirates stadium in London May 5, 2009. REUTERS

Comments by UEFA officials that the body’s president Michel Platini is “dead set” against a European Super League must come as a huge relief to a vast majority of Europe’s clubs.

“People should not mix up philosophy and reality. As far as the president is concerned, such a proposal is a non-starter,” a senior official close to Platini told Reuters.

The statement came several hours after France Football and Gazzetta dello Sport had published, without naming sources, detailed plans for a three-tier continental league to replace the Champions League and UEFA Cup.

For most national leagues in Europe, which would have to be reorganised to allow Super League teams to play in both competitions, that would have been the final straw.

How would anyone benefit from shredding the Premier League, Europe’s wealthiest and most entertaining national championship, into five groups of four teams and a subsequent play-off so that Manchester United and Liverpool could compete?

Would it not turn Europe’s top leagues into a mockery and the Premier League trophy into a piece of worthless scrap metal?

Nevermind that it would also devalue the continent’s other leagues, whose clubs would never stand a chance of reaching the Super League’s elite tier.

Most of them find it difficult enough to qualify for the Champions League in its present format, with the top five nations regularly providing more than half of the competition’s group stage participants.

Denying clubs like Danish champions Aalborg a fair chance to impress if only for a day, like they did in their 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, would in all likelihood drive many fans away from the beautiful game.

Or, maybe you would rather watch Europe’s elite clubs lock horns several times every season even if it meant condemning the other clubs to complete oblivion?

For more blogs on other sports than soccer, check out http://blogs.reuters.com/sport

Manchester City’s failed 100 million euros plus bid for AC Milan’s Kaka now begs the question: should there be a limit on the amount of money a club can pay for a player or should there be a salary cap?

Some of Europe’s top soccer clubs and the game’s European governing body UEFA seem to think so, with the news that they have started talks on curbing the amount of money that can be spent on player transfers or wages.

Sources familiar with the discussions have told Reuters that the European Club Association (ECA) — which represents the continent’s leading clubs such as Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan — has proposed clubs should only be allowed to spend around 51 percent of their revenue on transfers or salaries.

Under the ECA proposal, revenue would be determined as money received only from ticket sales, sponsorship, merchandise and television income. It would not include any financial investment by owners or major shareholders. (more…)

UEFA’s teams of the year feature is irresistible reading for lovers of footballing gossip, particularly in Spain and Argentina.

Javier Zanetti, Leo Messi and Kun Aguero have all published their best XIs of 2008 on uefa.com and there are a couple of conspicious absentees…

Aguero could find no place for his countryman Messi, despite his brilliant form over the year, while Messi himself left out… Cristiano Ronaldo.

Here’s Aguero’s team: Cech; Sagna, Ferdinand, Carvalho, Evra; Ronaldo, Xavi, Fabregas, Ribery; Del Piero, Ibrahimovic.

There’s a little comment on each and here’s what he says about Ibrahimovic: “He has the ability to destabilise opponents. Next to Ronaldo he is the best player in the world at the moment. He is the complete striker.”

Ouch! Isn’t he forgetting someone?

Here’s Messi’s team of the year: Cech; Maicon, Ferdinand, Puyol, Van Bronckhorst; Zanetti, Xavi, Fabregas, Iniesta; Aguero, Rooney

Here’s what Messi says about Aguero: “I love him and not just because he’s Argentinian! He plays like the gods, has extraordinary quality and a great instinct for scoring goals.”

UEFA promise more teams from Marcos Senna and Pepe but the one I’d really like to see would be Ronaldo’s… Think he’d find space for Messi?

The pair will meet on Monday when the FIFA player of the year award is handed out. Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo (who presumably won’t be driving) is one of five nominees along with Messi.

PHOTO: Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Lionel Messi pose after a press conference before the FIFA World Player Gala in Zurich Dec. 17, 2007. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

Michel Platini makes a perfectly reasonable point about the transfer system when he points out the absurdity of a player scoring against a team one week and for them the next.

It is patently daft that a club can buy a player from one of their rivals halfway through the season and put him to work for them. It distorts the competition in several ways and is clearly unfair.

And yet… I think it would be a shame if we threw out the current system entirely, or failed to come up with another version that would still give clubs the option of buying a ‘get out of jail free’ card once it’s clear things are going wrong.

There’s just something immensely comforting for fans at the thought of your whole season changing if you make the right signing during the transfer window (or before deadline day in the old money).

More often than not the clubs get it wrong — think Real Madrid spending five million euros on Antonio Cassano in 2006 – but Liverpool fans will remember Ronny Rosenthal coming in to inspire a title charge in 1990 and more recently Henrik Larsson, Emmanuel Adebayor and Patrice Evra have done well after arriving in the January transfer window.

If we do away with the transfer window clubs will still have the lifeline of their youth teams as the season reaches its climax; indeed, it may even give homegrown talent more of a chance.

I still think it would be a shame, though. If your team is bottom of the league with half the season gone at least there’s a chance, however small, that a couple of astute signings could make all the difference.

And that feeling that there is still hope is a large part of what being a football fan is all about. Don’t you reckon?

PHOTO: Real Madrid’s Antonio Cassano reacts after missing a chance against Real Betis at the go Bernabeu, March 19, 2006. REUTERS/Felix Ordonez