3 Dec 2009

No video referee for 2010 football World Cup

8:13 am on 3 December 2009

The president of football's governing body FIFA says the refereeing system for next year's World Cup will stay as it is, despite growing pressure to add a video referee to international games after France qualified for the tournament with the help of a Thierry Henry handball.

Ireland missed out on the 2010 finals because of the result and a storm of protest and controversy has raged since.

The incident fiercely re-ignited the debate over the use of video referees, but FIFA president Sepp Blatter says for the World Cup, the system will remain the status quo.