Fifa paid Ireland 'hush money' after Thierry Henry handball

Another day, another extraordinary revelation concerning Fifa. This latest one is arguably the most remarkable yet, concerning a match that traumatised Ireland and turned Thierry Henry into one of the most vilified footballers on the planet.

According to Football Association of Ireland [FAI] chief executive John Delaney Fifa paid them €5m (£3.7m) to stop legal action over Henry's handball in Ireland's defeat by France in their 2009 World Cup play-off encounter. The Times describes the payment as "hush money" and notes that France was one of the few European countries to vote for Blatter in last week's controversial election.

One-nil down after the first leg, Ireland levelled the aggregate scores early in the second leg in Paris before William Gallas scored in extra-time after Henry had blatantly handled in the ball in the build-up. Instead of the tie going to penalties the Irish lost 2-1 on aggregate and France qualified at their expense for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and Henry escaped punishment.

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In an interview with Irish broadcaster RTE on Thursday afternoon, Delany said that the FAI felt that it had grounds for legal proceedings against Fifa in the aftermath of the handball incident. After a furious Delany confronted Blatter an agreement was drawn up in which football's governing body gave an undisclosed sum of money to the FAI.

Though Delany initially refused to reveal the amount they received, Fifa released a statement on Thursday evening in which they admitted to a payment in US dollars, but insisted it was a loan. "Fifa granted FAI a loan of $5m (£3.3) for the construction of a stadium in Ireland," said Fifa. "At the same time, Uefa also granted the FAI funds for the same stadium.

"The terms agreed between Fifa and the FAI were that the loan would be reimbursed if Ireland qualified for the 2014 Fifa World Cup. Ireland did not so qualify. Because of this, and in view of the FAI's financial situation, Fifa decided to write off the loan as per 31 December 2014."

In the interview with RTE Delany laughed off suggestions that the money construed a bribe, saying: "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Not on my salary!"

Others were less amused by the disclosures. British football administrator Jim Boyce, who stepped down as a Fifa vice-president last week, demanded there should be an investigation into "arbitrary" payments, adding: "I'm absolutely astounded - I have never heard anything as ridiculous in my life.

"If a payment of $5m has been paid because of a handball and threatened legal action then I hope a full investigation will be carried out into this and any other such arbitrary payments."

The revelations may now raise questions as to where the money went because Dublin's Aviva Stadium was the only major sports ground redeveloped in Ireland within that time frame, but it was completed just a short time after Fifa paid the money to the FAI in January 2010. According to the Irish Times "there is no specific reference to the Fifa payment in any of the FAI's published accounts."

Yet in response to an enquiry from the Irish Times on Thursday night, the FAI said that the payment "is fully reflected in our financial statements which are audited independently". This hasn't satisfied the paper, which declared on Friday morning it found it "remarkable that such a huge sum – more than ten per cent of total income in an average year – would not have merited a specific mention and explanation from an organisation that claims to be transparent".

Meanwhile The Guardian says that the FBI investigation into corruption at Fifa has been widened to include the 2014 Brazil World Cup. Apparently they are probing "links between Brazil's football ex-chief Ricardo Teixeira and Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke". According to Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S Paulo, FBI investigators are believed to be examining more than 1,000 documents signed by World Cup organisers in the build up to the 2014 tournament.