Live - Reaction to Republic of Ireland's exit

FOOTBALL'S REACTION TO THE INCIDENT (all times GMT)

606: DEBATE Your thoughts on the incident

To get involved use 606 or text us your views & comments on 81111. (Not all contributions can be used)

By Sam Lyon

eoinsmith001 on 606: "That's sport, that's life. It's just a shame for Henry the man that he defers to the referee, and Fifa. The handball happened, that happens all the time. The time for action was when he saw the goal being allowed. If he can't be a real man at the moment of truth, then he's weak, and a coward. The chance to do the right thing was right there; it was all down to him."

battylufc1974 on 606: "In my opinion FIFA have to do something about this incident. The World Cup is the flagship tournament for the sport, it is an institution and a spectacle that can turn those that have never seen the game into fanatical followers. What does it say when a team can qualify in this way? It makes it a mockery."

1133: Not sure if it's consolation or not, but the Republic of Ireland are receiving more than their fair share of sympathy in France as well. French newspaper L'Equipe ran the headline "Hand of God", Le Monde "Blues relieved, Irish disgusted" and France's former World Cup winner Bixente Lizarazu told TF1: "We're going to go the World Cup, but we go to the locker-room with our heads bowed. It was not something to be proud of. I'm not going to party."

Gareth via text on 81111: "These incidents serve only to add to the feeling that football is becoming a sport where cheating is welcome."

Former official Graham Poll on BBC Radio 5 Live: "If we're going to punish Thierry Henry for the handball, we should punish Nicolas Anelka for the disgraceful dive that was an attempt to cheat and con the ref minutes earlier - that is equally as bad. The refs do their best but the players are good at cheating. Take that one incident away, (referee) Martin Hansson had a good game and I'm sure if he had seen the handball he would have given it. Sometimes match officials can't see things because of angles. I'm hoping Hansson makes the final 24 for the World Cup finals when selection is made and that his mistake will not count against him, but he will be worried today because he knows that the mistake happened on his watch."

dominiccm317 on 606: "It's hard to defend Henry. He's always been a model pro but even he admitted it was a handball. Can't see anything changing so I hope for the Irish sake that they take heart from coming so close and get themselves into Euro 2012."

Wash-CARU FC (17) on 606: "Some points need to be clarified here. A) Henry's handball did not stop Ireland going to the world cup- it denied them the opportunity to go to penalties. Yes, they may have won but they may not. B) The ref is not to blame here. If we all played the game fairly, the officials would only be needed to adjudge whether players were offside and such like. Unfortunately, we all don't..."

Republic of Ireland midfielder Kevin Kilbane on BBC Radio 5 Live: "We all saw it was handball. I asked Thierry about it straight after and he said "yes it was handball" but that he didn't mean it. But, I'm sorry, you look at it and he definitely moved his hand to the ball, you see how blatant it was. You can't see how the officials have missed it. At the end of the day, though, you can't blame him I guess - he's achieved what he wanted to achieve - but you can't point the finger at the officials. It's so hard to take in the circumstances that we've gone out."

draper4 on 606: "It was definitely ball to hand. Henry has been an honest player all his life and would never cheat a team out of a place at the World Cup."

1110: In case you missed them, by the way, here a selection of the back page headlines from this morning. If you did not observe an injustice last night, you might want to look the other way. "Le Cheat" (Daily Express). "Le Hand of God" (The Sun). "Ireland robbed by cruel hand of Henry" (Guardian). French nickers (Mirror). "Hand of Henry shatters Ireland" (Times). "Hand of God II" (Daily Mail). "Hand Gaul!" (Independent). "Hand of Henry cheats Irish" (Telegraph). Ouch.

Y2J on 606: "The fact that Henry is effectively saying "I handballed but the ref didn't do anything about it so therefore it's not really my fault" is shocking. It's still cheating! He's still a cheat!"

LarrySanders on 606: "You can't blame the entire French Squad and fans simply because one of their players used his hand to control the ball. At best the player should face some form of punishment."

1100: Right, clearly there are approximately 479 issues to come out of this, so I will attempt to deal with them one by one over the course of the day. My first question surrounds the issue of guilt - was it a deliberate handball?

Here are Thierry Henry's thoughts: "I will be honest it was a handball but I'm not the referee. "I told (Richard) Dunne and he said the same to me, 'you're not the ref'. That's why the players did not come to me, that's why they went to the referee. You can clearly see the opportunity. Sebastien Squillaci went to jump for the ball with two Irish players and I'm behind him. The next thing I know the ball hit my hand, my arm even. It was right in front of me, I played it. The ref allowed it and that's a question you should ask him."

Tam via text on 81111: "People need to appreciate that it was a two-leg contest. Sure, Henry cheated, but can anyone really claim that over the course of the 2 games Ireland would justify qualification?"

mechcol on 606: "Ireland should replace France at the World Cup. Fifa need to up the ante and start punishing teams that are involved in cheating like this. I say kick them out though this will never happen again."

Baggio's_Ponytail on 606: "Hilarious on the Fifa website that they don't even mention the handball."

BBC Sport's Phil McNulty on Twitter: "How about Fifa imposing ban on Thierry Henry for deception after last night? Starting at the World Cup and for three games?"

1045: For those of you who missed last night's controversy - erm, sort it out. However, here's a summary: Ireland, leading 1-0 on the night with the play-off 1-1 on aggregate and heading to penalties, concede a free-kick. It is floated in and, beyond the defence, Thierry Henry controls the ball - twice - with his hand, before squaring across to William Gallas to head home from close range. It meant France led 2-1 on aggregate and go through to the World Cup, Ireland do not. Cue a volcano of emotions.

1040: Scandal, outrage, disappointment and bemusement. How must the Republic of Ireland's players, staff and supporters be feeling this morning? I'd imagine some or all of the words above - and a fair few others besides - probably fit in there somewhere.

The Irish kicked off at Le Stade de France on Wednesday trailing 1-0 from the first leg of their World Cup play-off against France, dominated for much of the ensuing 120-odd minutes, and yet will not be competing in next summer's Finals in South Africa because of a blatant handball. Need a forum for your outrage? A place to justify Thierry Henry's actions? Somewhere simply to cry? Look no further.

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