Incensed fans the world over have jammed football forums everywhere with angry comments directed at last night's archvillain Thierry Henry and calls for the France v Ireland qualifier to be replayed.

Just in case you've been living on another planet and have no idea what happened in Paris, a heroic Irish effort saw them end 90 minutes leading 1-0 after Robbie Keane's well-taken first-half goal at the Stade de France.

But the Boys in Green were cheated out of a World Cup finals place in extra-time by the 'Hand of Henry', the Barcelona striker flicking the ball back into play deliberately with his hand before crossing for William Gallas to score what proved to be the decisive goal.

Now fans everywhere are enraged by Henry's cheating and Swedish referee Martin Hansson's failure to spot such a blatant foul, with calls for a replay coming from all corners.

Indeed, even Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has thrown his weight behind the battle for fairness, calling FIFA to organise a replay so as to show that cheating simply does not pay.

"They probably won't grant it as we are minnows in world football but let's put them on the spot," he said.

"It's the least we owe the thousands of devastated young fans around the country. Otherwise, if that result remains, it reinforces the view that if you cheat, you will win."

Others have called for Henry to be banned from the World Cup while the number of voices calling for the introduction of video replays is growing ever stronger. Surely if it works so successfully in sports such as rugyby, cricket, tennis and American football why can't it help make the "Beautiful Game" fair?

But technophobic FIFA president Sepp Blatter is hardly likely to change his opinions thanks to a blatant piece of cheating which helped a big nation qualify at the expense of a small one, generating millions more in sponsorship revenue.

Ireland's chances of successfully negotiating a replay also appear slim, since they would have to get UEFA on their side and their president is of course France legend Michel Platini.

Furthermore, both governing bodies seem utterly unsympathetic to the "fair play" they supposedly champion, scandalously making not a single mention of the handball in their official match reports.

And we can certainly never rely on FIFA to exercise its common sense, as Uzbekistan's infamous 2006 World Cup qualifier against Bahrain proved.

In a decision even more unfair than that against Ireland last night, FIFA ordered a replay of the match because the referee had failed to allow the Uzbeks to retake a penalty which had been disallowed for encroachment when they were already 1-0 up.

Since the decision hurt the winning side, awarding the Uzbeks a 3-0 win might have made sense but much to their fury they had to replay the entire game, Bahrain taking advantage to snatch a 1-1 draw and progress on away goals.

So ExtraFootie wishes the Republic all the luck in the world in their quest for justice, but we fear it will be a long and ultimately fruitless journey.