Giovanni Trapattoni has revealed how Sepp Blatter offered him ‘a way to forget’ about Thierry Henry’s handball against Ireland in 2009, but he refused.
Ireland were denied a place at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa when Henry twice handled the ball before crossing for his French team-mate William Gallas to score.
“I remember every moment of those seconds in Paris and, above all, the laugh of the assistant of the referee Hansson made in front of me,” Trapattoni told La Stampa.
In the aftermath of the incident, FIFA made a payment to the FAI of €5m that was initially identified as a loan, but was ultimately written off due to Ireland’s failure to qualify for either the 2010 or 2014 World Cup.
Trap, however, could not be so easily bought.
The former Ireland manager says that Blatter told him ‘Meet me, we can find together a way out, a way to forget.’
“I do not know what he wanted,” Trap said. “I just know that when he gave me his hand, I did not give mine because I do not have two faces.”
