LONDON - FOOTBALL'S world ruling body Fifa on Friday officially turned down a request from the Irish football authorities to stage a replay of their controversial World Cup playoff defeat to France.

A statement on Fifa's website said: 'Fifa has today, Nov 20, 2009, replied to the request made by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to replay the 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa play-off match held on Nov 18, 2009 between France and the Republic of Ireland in Paris.

BERLIN - AROUND 200 football matches in nine European countries including at least three Champions League games this season are implicated in a new match-fixing scandal, German prosecutors said on Friday.

The suspect matches took place in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Austria, netting criminals several million euros in betting profits, prosecutors believe.

IPSWICH (England) - ROY Keane has accused the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) of hypocrisy over its attempts to have the World Cup play-off with France replayed.

Keane said Ireland had benefited from poor refereeing decisions during their qualifying campaign as well as being the victims of a mistake on Wednesday, when the referee failed to spot Thierry Henry's handball in the build-up to the William Gallas goal that sent France to the finals.