20 November,2009 03:29 PM IST | | AFP
Finance Minister Christine Lagarde broke ranks with the French government on Friday and called for the Ireland-France World Cup playoff to be replayed because the French team clinched victory by cheating.
"I'm very happy that the (French) team is in the World Cup but it is very sad to have qualified by cheating," she told RTL radio station. "I think that in such circumstances it would be good to decide to have the match replayed."
Lagarde said world football's governing body FIFA needed to look again at its rules and that "if the rules are bad then they should be reexamined".
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen has called on FIFA to order a re-match after France's Thierry Henry helped knock out Ireland with a clear hand ball in Wednesday's game.
Lagarde's comments were in contrast to the position of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon, who both said that politicians should not get involved but leave decisions to FIFA.
