After Thierry Henry's deliberate handball put France in the World Cup and eliminated Ireland, FIFA will decide on Wednesday whether to help referees with video technology or extra officials at next year's tournament in South Africa.

Faced by a storm of protests that it wasn't doing enough to help referees, FIFA's executive committee is holding an emergency meeting in Cape Town two days ahead of the World Cup draw.

Ahead of what has turned out to be a vitally important meeting, the game appears divided over what FIFA should do.

They can decide to do nothing, let the referees have the benefit of the 26 or so TV cameras that surround the field, give the fourth official a TV monitor or copy the Europa League experiment and have an extra match official at either end of the field to help the others.

David Dein, the former English Football Association vice chairman who has become a leading consultant on the future of the game, is a strong supporter of TV technology but believes FIFA will go for the extra officials.

"Let's give the referees help. They actually want the help now," Dein said at the Soccerex business conference in Johannesburg.

"They'll put the two extra officials probably. It's already in the Europa League as an experiment. Everybody's wired up and it will be interesting to see how it works.

"Technology is a huge subject and it's been brought to the boil by the Thierry Henry incident. You've got critical decisions at the top level that affect the game so much. OK, they are looking at extra officials but don't slam the door on technology."

Henry's handball while playing for France in last month's qualifying playoff against Ireland set up an equalizer in a 1-1 draw which put the French through to the World Cup 2-1 on aggregate and eliminated the Irish.

The incident was not spotted by Swedish referee Martin Hansson and the goal stood even though millions saw TV replays of Henry deliberately controlling the ball with his left arm and hand to keep the ball in play.

FIFA rejected an Irish appeal for the game to replayed and Wednesday's meeting of the executive committee will also hear Ireland's request to add its name to the 32 teams already in the draw.

That seems almost certain to be rejected, too, but FIFA still has the task of finding better ways to avoid similar situations happening again.

Gerard Houllier, who is technical director of the France national team, doesn't want to see football take on the full extent of TV technology but can see how it can help in small doses.

"I am very much in favor of goalline technology but I have mixed feelings about video technology in general," Houllier said Tuesday.

"I am very reluctant because you can't have 26 cameras at a game in the Faeroe Islands. And you have to leave the referee to know the game and to interpret.

"With the Thierry Henry handball as an example, the fourth official should have a monitor. He should never talk to the referee but, in some circumstances, the main referee could ask him through the microphone if there was something controversial he couldn't see."

The handball debate is not the only matter on the agenda of the executive committee. FIFA also wants to discuss the latest wave of match-fixing and betting scams coming out of central and eastern Europe. It is also concerned that the playoff systems used for the World Cup may have given some of the teams an advantage.

The playoffs in Europe involved eight of the group runners-up playing against each other home and away. Blatter believes that, because one country then gets the advantage of playing the second leg at home, that becomes unfair and FIFA will look at the playoffs being just one game on neutral turf.