SPORTSPORT 32 METROSPORT Thursday, December 3, 2009 D Certified Distribution October 5 to November 1, 2009: 60,200 Published by Fortunegreen Ltd, Embassy House, Herbert Park Lane, Dublin 4 Printed by The Irish Times at Citywest in Dublin Editorial: (01) 637 5900 Advertising: (01) 637 5989 Classified: (01) 637 5979 Distribution: (01) 637 5901 MaNChester City will face derby rivals United in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup after easily disposing of arsene Wengers youthful arsenal side at eastlands last night. superb second-half strikes from Carlos tevez and shaun Wright-Phillips and a late third from substitute Vladimir Weiss earned City a 3-0 win and boss Mark hughes a two-legged tussle against his former club. the semi-final draw also pitted Blackburn rovers, who stunned Premier League leaders Chelsea 4-3 on penalties after a thrilling tie at ewood Park ended 3-3 after extra time, against aston Villa. United semi next for City as Tevez trumps Arsenal Picture:PA Fifa put Henry in the dock By DaViD keNNeDyTHIErry HEnry could miss the start of next summers World Cup finals after Fifa announced yesterday they will refer his infa- mous handball to their discipli- nary committee. The incident involving the France striker in the World Cup play-off against the republic of Ireland was the subject of detailed discussion in an emergency meet- ing of the Fifa executive commit- tee in Cape Town. However, the body rejected a proposal brought in response to the handball to fast-track the ex- perimental system of having five officials on the pitch, with two ex- tra assistant referees behind each goal-line, for the World Cup. Fifa president Sepp Blatter an- nounced the proceedings against Henry and although he added it was too early to speculate on the outcome, the Barcelona forward could face a range of sanctions, with a one-match ban perhaps the most likely. Asked why Fifa were making a special case of Henry when so many players commit handballs, Blatter said: This is a matter of the disciplinary com- mittee and its not a question of this player or another it was bla- tant unfair play and was shown all around the world, but I dont know what the outcome will be. I have not said that Thierry Henry will be punished, I have said that Thierry Henry will be examined by the disciplinary committee of Fifa. Blatter also revealed the FAI had withdrawn their bid to be in- cluded as a 33rd country in the World Cup and apologised for his comments earlier this week suggesting it had not been con- sidered seriously. FAI chiefs had launched a scathing attack on Blatter, accus- ing him of making details of what they claim were private discussions public, and for ex- pressing empathy with Henry during the affair. We have received a letter from the FAI withdrawing their de- mand to be accepted as team number 33, Blatter said. I would like to express my re- grets to a wrong interpretation of what I said and to the FAI Im sorry about the headlines going around the world. I have nothing against the Irish, they were very sporting when they came to Fifa. Meanwhile, Fifa general secre- tary Jerome Valcke insisted France were not being punished for the play-off win after the seed- ings for tomorrows finals draw based on Octobers world rank- ings did not include Les Bleus. Valcke said: In the past the seedings have been determined by a mixture of world rankings and performances in past World Cups but this time the feeling was the October rankings most closely represented the best teams in the tournament. u Striker faces World Cup ban u Blatter says sorry to Ireland Former republic of Ireland striker Niall Quinn has told the nation to move on from the injustice of Paris a fortnight ago but backed the FAI for speaking up in the aftermath of Irelands World Cup exit to France. Sunderland chairman Quinn said: I felt it was right for the FAI speak up against what happened in Paris after the Thierry [Henry] handball. It would have been great to see the French Football Federation make a genuine response. They were never going to offer a replay but they could have made a more sympathetic statement in terms of how the Irish players and fans were feeling. Instead, they adopted a very legalistic stance. It is difficult to accept, 90 per cent of my career I was a sportsman and I know how difficult this sort of thing is to accept but the right thing to do is to move on at this stage. I would have to say that it all would have easier to move on if the French Federation had been a bit more compassionate rather than to deafen us with their silence. Quinn: Its time to move on Celtic triumph but crash out of Europa League Page 31 Carling Cup reports: Page 30 One giant leap: Carlos tevez celebrates opening the scoring for Manchester City at eastlands last night index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html28.html29.html30.html31.html32.html33.html34.html35.html