2009 Queensland Basketball League season, Finals
*The team that finishes 1st overall goes straight through to the semi-finals.


2009 Queensland Cup
The 2009 Queensland Cup season was the 14th season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition run by the Queensland Rugby League. The competition, known as the Queensland Wizard Cup due to sponsorship from Wizard Home Loans featured 12 teams playing a 25-week-long season (including finals) from March to September.


2009 Queensland Cup
The Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles, in their first season back in the competition, won their first premiership after defeating the Northern Pride 32–18 at Stockland Park. Burleigh Bears' hooker Scott Smith was named the competition's Player of the Year, winning the Courier Mail Medal.


2009 Queensland Cup, Teams
In 2009, the Queensland Cup featured 12 teams for the first time since the 2004 season. The Sunshine Coast Falcons, re-branded as the Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles, returned to the competition after the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles injected $1 million into the club and formed a partnership.


2009 Queensland Cup, Final series
In 2009, after using a five-team finals series for 10 years, the Queensland Cup used a six-team system. The competition used a six-team format from 1996 to 1998, although the system used in 2009 was two weeks shorter.


2009 Queensland Cup, Grand Final
The Northern Pride, who finished the regular season in second, qualified for their first Grand Final after a 22–10 win over the Central Comets in the preliminary final. They were joined by the Sunshine Coast, who finished fourth in their return season, after they defeated reigning premiers Souths Logan 30–26 in the preliminary final.


2009 Queensland Cup, Grand Final, First half
The Pride opened the scoring in the fifth minute when they created an huge overlap, with centre Jamie Frizzo finishing off the play with a try. The Sunshine Coast responded quickly when five-eighth Tony Williams bumped off a defender and threw an offload to centre Shane Neumann who crossed for his first try. The Sea Eagles hit the lead in the 27th minute when winger Michael Chapman scored untouched in the corner. They scored again four minutes later when Ryan Walker scored in the opposite corner. Poor goal kicking kept the Pride in the contest, as Williams missed all three conversion attempts. The Pride converted a penalty from right in front on the stroke of half time to trail by just eight at the break.


2009 Queensland Cup, Grand Final, Second half
The Sunshine Coast extended the lead to 10 in the 47th minute when Williams dived over for a try of his own. The Sea Eagles kept the points coming when Neumann dived over in the corner for his second just six minutes later. With just over 10 minutes remaining, the Pride gave themselves a chance when Rod Jensen scored and cut the Sea Eagles' lead to 10. Three minutes later, the Sunshine Coast all but sealed victory when halfback Trent Hodkinson scored close to the posts. The Pride scored a late consolation try when Humble latched onto a wayward Sea Eagles' pass and ran 80 metres to score under the uprights. In the final minute, Neumann crossed for his hat trick as the Sea Eagles' wrapped up a 14-point victory.


2009 Queensland Cup, Grand Final, Second half
Tony Williams, who was awarded the Duncan Hall Medal, and second rower Vic Mauro would go onto play in the Manly Sea Eagles' 2011 NRL Grand Final win over the New Zealand Warriors.


2009 Queensland House and Land.com 300
The 2009 Queensland House and Land.com 300  was the eighth race meeting of the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It contained Races 15 and 16 of the series and was held on the weekend of August 21 to 23 at Queensland Raceway in Ipswich, Queensland.


2009 Queensland House and Land.com 300, Support categories
The 2009 Queensland House and Land.com 300 had four support categories.


2009 Queensland state election
The 2009 Queensland state election was held on 21 March 2009 to elect all 89 members of the Legislative Assembly, a unicameral parliament.


2009 Queensland state election
The election saw the incumbent Labor government led by Premier Anna Bligh defeat the Liberal National Party of Queensland led by Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg, and gain a fifth consecutive term in office for her party. Bligh thus became the first female Premier of any Australian State elected in her own right.


2009 Queensland state election
The 2009 election marked the eighth consecutive victory of Labor in a general election since 1989, although it was out of office between 1996 and 1998 as a direct result of the 1996 Mundingburra by-election.


2009 Queensland state election, Results
Queensland state election, 21 March 2009Legislative Assembly << 2006–2012 >>


2009 Queensland state election, Seats changing hands
¶ Ronan Lee was elected as a member of the Labor Party in 2006, but he defected to the Greens in 2008.


2009 Queensland state election, Seats changing hands
One of the gains by the Liberal Nationals was the defeat of the Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation Andrew McNamara (Hervey Bay). The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, Training and the Arts, Bonny Barry (Aspley), was also defeated.


2009 Queensland state election, Date
The previous state election was held on 9 September 2006 to elect the 89 members of the Legislative Assembly. In Queensland, for the government to serve a full-term, an election will be held approximately three years following the previous election. In Queensland, Section 80 of the Electoral Act 1992 states that an election must be held on a Saturday; and that the election campaign must run for a minimum of 26 or a maximum of 56 days following the issue of the writs. Five to seven days following the issue of the writs, the electoral roll is closed, which gives voters a final opportunity to enrol or to notify the Electoral Commission of Queensland of any changes in their place of residence.


2009 Queensland state election, Legislative Assembly
The Labor Party, led by Premier Anna Bligh, and the LNP, led by Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg, were the two main parties in Queensland at the election. It was the first election contested by the LNP following its creation with the merger of the National and Liberal parties. At the previous election, Labor won 59 seats, the Nationals won 17 seats, the Liberals won eight seats, One Nation won one seat, and independents won four seats. Former Labor MP Ronan Lee joined the Greens in 2008, thus becoming their parliamentary leader. Lee lost his seat at the election.


2009 Queensland state election, Legislative Assembly
A redistribution saw Labor notionally pick up three seats. Therefore, the LNP notionally needed to pick up 22 seats rather than 20 seats to form a majority government, which equated to an unchanged uniform 8.3 percent two party preferred swing.


2009 Queensland state election, Legislative Assembly
Former Premier Peter Beattie resigned in September 2007, which triggered the October 2007 Brisbane Central by-election.


2009 Queensland state election, Parties contesting the election
† Contested 2006 elections as Liberal Party (49 seats) and National Party (40) seats.


2009 Queensland state election, Parties contesting the election
Both the Australian Labor Party and the Greens contested all 89 seats. This was the first Queensland state election in which the Greens contested every seat. The LNP contested every seat except Gladstone (held by an Independent), which they avoided for strategic reasons. A total of 397 candidates contested the election—the largest number of candidates to contest a Queensland election since 1998.


2009 Queensland state election, Polling
Newspoll polling was conducted via random telephone number selection in city and country areas. Sampling sizes usually consist of around 1000 electors, with the declared margin of error at around ±3 percent.


2009 R League
The 2009 edition of R League was held from March 30 to October 22. In this season, Jeju United didn't participated due to lack of players. Championship playoff's semifinals will be played 8 October 2009. Final's first leg matches will be played on 15 October, while the second leg matches will be played on 22 October 2009.


2009 RCNJC season
The 2009 RCNJC season was the inaugural season for the Rugby Canada National Junior Championship.


2009 RCNJC season, Standings, Eastern Conference
Note: 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw, 1 bonus point for a loss by 7 points or less, 1 bonus point for scoring 4 tries or more.


2009 RCNJC season, Championship Final
The championship game was hosted in Vancouver, British Columbia and took place between the West Champion, Vancouver Wave and the East Champion, Toronto Rebellion. The Wave won the game by a score of 41 to 21.


2009 RFL Championship
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by Rodw (talk | contribs) at 11:39, 11 April 2020 (Disambiguating links to Gateshead Thunder (link changed to Gateshead Thunder (2000)) using DisamAssist.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


2009 RFL Championship
The 2009 Co-operative Championship is a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in the United Kingdom and France one tier below the first tier Super League. The two worst performing teams during the season, with the exception of Toulouse Olympique, will be relegated to Championship 1.


2009 RFL Championship
There is no automatic promotion from this league to Super League, which uses a licensing system renewed every three years. Qualifying for the Grand Final is a prerequisite for Championship clubs to be able to apply for license in the next round of applications for the 2012–14 period.


2009 RFL Championship
The competition was very close with most teams having a chance of making the top 6 going into the final round. In the end Barrow Raiders topped the standings followed by Halifax. The Leigh Centurions were relegated on the final day of competition despite finishing only third to last and Doncaster were also relegated but their fate had been sealed for some time. In the weeks following the competitions completion, Gateshead Thunder were eliminated following salary cap breaches and subsequently relegated to the Championship 1 for 2010, Leigh Centurions were therefore reprieved from relegation and remained in the Championship for 2010.


2009 RFL Championship
In the playoffs, Widnes Vikings and Featherstone Rovers advance from the first week to play each other. Featherstone won this game which gave them the chance to take on Halifax, who lost their game to Barrow, for a spot in the grand final. Halifax won and went on to play Barrow in the final but lost 26-18.


2009 RFL Championship, Table
Source: Note (a): Toulouse were exempt from relegation. Note: (b): Doncaster lost 9 competition points for entering administration. Classification: 1st on league points; 2nd on match points difference. League points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0. Pld = Games played; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; PF = Match points scored; PA = Match points conceded; PD = Points difference; BP = Bonus Points; Pts = League points.


2009 RR
2009 RR micro-asteroid, classified as near-Earth object of the Apollo group. It was discovered on 11 September 2009 by the Catalina Sky Survey at an apparent magnitude of 19.5 using a 0.68-meter (27 in) Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope. 2009 RR was the only asteroid discovered before 2014 that was predicted to potentially pass inside the orbit of the Moon during 2014. The asteroid has an estimated diameter of 26 meters (85 ft) and is listed on the Sentry Risk Table. It is not large enough to qualify as a potentially hazardous object.


2009 RR, Description
With an observation arc of only 4 days, the asteroid has a poorly determined orbit. It is already known that there is no risk of an Earth impact before 2098. The power of such an air burst would be somewhere between the Chelyabinsk meteor and the Tunguska event depending on the actual size of the asteroid.


2009 RR, Description
The nominal orbit shows that on 16 September 2014 the asteroid could have passed just inside one lunar distance from Earth, but the orbital uncertainties show that it could have passed as much as 0.1 AU (15,000,000 km; 9,300,000 mi) from Earth. On 9 September 2014 the full moon may have only be 15 degrees from the 20th magnitude asteroid, making it difficult to detect the asteroid. The asteroid was estimated to be brighter than magnitude 20 from 10 September until 16 September 2014. 2009 RR was not recovered during the 2014 approach and thus probably passed more than one lunar distance from Earth.


2009 RSA T20 Cup
The 2009 RSA T20 Cup was a Women's Twenty20 (T20) cricket tournament that was held in Ireland in May 2009. The tournament was originally planned as a tri-nation series between Ireland, Pakistan and South Africa, but Nottinghamshire replaced South Africa before the tournament began. It was part of Pakistan's tour of Ireland and England before the 2009 ICC Women's World Twenty20.


2009 RSA T20 Cup
Pakistan won the tournament with four wins from their four matches, whilst Ireland and Nottinghamshire won one game apiece.


2009 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards
The 32nd RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards (Chinese: 第三十二屆十大中文金曲得獎) was held on January 30, 2010 for the 2009 music season. This marks the second time the Golden needle award was given to someone who is deceased, Danny Chan, with the first being Tang Ti-sheng in 1986.


2009 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards, Top 10 song awards
The top 10 songs (十大中文金曲) of 2009 are as follows.


2009 Race of Champions
The 2009 Race of Champions was the 22nd running of the event, and took place on November 3–4, 2009 at the Beijing National Stadium in Beijing, China. It was the first time that the event took place outside of Europe and Africa. It was also the first international sports event to be held in the "Bird's Nest" stadium since the 2008 Summer Olympics.


2009 Race of Champions
The event also moved from a weekend to a midweek slot for the first time. The RoC Nations Cup took place on Tuesday, November 3, just two days after the climax of the 2009 Formula One season in Abu Dhabi at the Yas Marina Circuit, with the Driver's Cup being contested on Wednesday 4, November.


2009 Race of Champions
The new dates affected the United States and Australia the worst, since it meant drivers from those countries' popular saloon-car series (V8 Supercar and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series) could not participate in the event. Jamie Whincup of Team Vodafone was originally selected to participate but could not because of the schedule, so two motorcyclists were used on the team. In the past, the United States team has used Nationwide Series champion Carl Edwards, and four-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Two X Games stars and Rally America drivers were chosen.


2009 Race of Champions
Mattias Ekström won the World Final for Team Scandinavia, while Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher won the Nations Cup for Team Germany.


2009 Race of Champions, South Europe Regional Final
For the first ever time, regional finals were held to determine which nations will take part in Beijing. The first of these regional finals was for South Europe, featuring Portugal, Spain, Monaco and Italy. It was held in the Estádio do Dragão, the home of F.C. Porto on 6/7 June.


2009 Race of Champions, South Europe Regional Final, ROC Portugal
Miguel Barbosa won the ROC Portugal opener and was joined by A1 Grand Prix driver Filipe Albuquerque, José Pedro Fontes and team captain and Production World Rally Championship Armindo Araújo in the Portuguese team.


2009 Race of Champions, South Europe Regional Final, ROC Iberia
The Portuguese team faced a Spanish team made up of team captain World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz, Citroën WRC driver Dani Sordo, World Series by Renault driver Jaime Alguersuari and rally driver Sergio Vallejo in the ROC Iberia. Albuquerque beat Sordo by two heats to nil in the Iberian final.


2009 Race of Champions, South Europe Regional Final, ROC South Europe Finals
The Spanish pairing of Sainz and Sordo faced the Italian pairing of former World Rally champion Miki Biasion and current WRC driver Gigi Galli in the first semi-final. Spain won by three heats to nil. The Portuguese pairing of Albuquerque and Araujo faced Monaco, featuring A1GP driver Clivio Piccione and Le Mans 24 Hours winner Emanuele Pirro, who although born in Italy, has been a resident of Monaco for over 22 years.


2009 Race of Champions, South Europe Regional Final, ROC South Europe Finals
After four of five heats the score was balanced at 2–2, before Piccione beat Albuquerque by one ten thousandth of a second, the narrowest margin of victory in Race of Champions history. The Monegasque pairing beat the Spanish pair by three heats to one in the final to send Monaco through to the main event in November.


2009 Race of Champions, South Europe Regional Final, ROC Legends
There was also a RoC Legends competition on the Saturday evening, featuring Sainz, Biasion, Pirro, Johnny Herbert, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Mick Doohan, Andy Priaulx and Pedro Chaves. Priaulx beat Herbert in the Legends final by two heats to one.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season
The 2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season officially began on January 5 with the start of the 2009 ATP World Tour.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, Qatar Open
Nadal's first official ATP tour event for the year was the 250 series Qatar Open in Doha. After his first-round match with Fabrice Santoro, Nadal was awarded the 2008 ATP World Tour Champion trophy. Nadal eventually lost in the quarterfinals to Gaël Monfils. Nadal also entered and won the tournament's doubles event with partner Marc López, defeating the world No. 1 doubles team of Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić in the final. As noted by statistician Greg Sharko, this was the first time since 1990 the world No. 1 singles player had played the world No. 1 doubles player in a final.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, Australian Open
At the 2009 Australian Open, Nadal won his first five matches without dropping a set, before defeating compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the semifinals in the second longest match in Australian Open history at 5 hours and 14 minutes. This win set up a championship match with Roger Federer, their first meeting ever in a hard-court Grand Slam tournament and their nineteenth meeting overall.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, Australian Open
Nadal defeated Federer in five sets to earn his first hard-court Grand Slam singles title, making him the first Spaniard to win the Australian Open and the fourth male tennis player—after Jimmy Connors, Mats Wilander, and Andre Agassi—to win Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces. This win also made Nadal the first male tennis player to hold three Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces at the same time.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
At the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, Nadal lost in the final to second-seeded Andy Murray in three sets. During the final, Nadal called a trainer to attend to a tendon problem with his right knee, which notably affected his play in the final set. Although this knee problem was not associated with Nadal's right knee tendonitis, it was serious enough to cause him to withdraw from the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships a week later.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, Davis Cup
In March, Nadal helped Spain defeat Serbia in a Davis Cup World Group first-round tie on clay in Benidorm, Spain. Nadal defeated Janko Tipsarević and Novak Djokovic. The win over world No. 3 Djokovic was Nadal's twelfth consecutive Davis Cup singles match win and boosted his career win–loss record against Djokovic to 11–4, including 6–0 on clay.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, Indian Wells
At the 2009 Indian Wells Masters, Nadal won his thirteenth Masters 1000 series tournament. In the fourth round, Nadal saved five match points, before defeating David Nalbandian for the first time. Nadal defeated Juan Martín del Potro in the quarterfinals and Andy Roddick in the semifinals, before defeating Murray in the final.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, Miami
The next ATP tour event was the 2009 Miami Masters. Nadal advanced to the quarterfinals, where he again faced Argentinian del Potro, this time losing the match. This was the first time del Potro had defeated Nadal in five career matches.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, Monte Carlo
Nadal began his European clay court season at the 2009 Monte Carlo Masters, where he won a record fifth consecutive singles title there. He defeated Novak Djokovic in the final for his fifth consecutive win, a record in the open era. Nadal is the first male player to win the same ATP Master series event for five consecutive years.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, Barcelona
Nadal then competed in the ATP 500 event in Barcelona. He advanced to his fifth consecutive Barcelona final, where he faced David Ferrer. Nadal went on to beat Ferrer to record five consecutive Barcelona victories.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, Rome
At the Rome Masters, Nadal reached the final, where he defeated Novak Djokovic to improve his overall record to 13–4 and clay record to 8–0 against the Serb. He became the first player to win four Rome titles.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, Rome
After winning two clay-court Masters, he participated in the Madrid Open. He lost to Roger Federer in the final. This was the first time that Nadal had lost to Federer since the semifinals of the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, Rome
On 19 May, the ATP World Tour announced that Nadal was the first player out of eight to qualify for the 2009 ATP World Tour Finals, to be played at the O2 Arena in London.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, French Open
By beating Lleyton Hewitt in the third round of 2009 French Open, Nadal (2005–09 French Open) set a record of 31 consecutive wins at Roland Garros, beating the previous record of 28 by Björn Borg (1978–81 French Open). Nadal had won 32 consecutive sets at Roland Garros (since winning the last 2 sets at the 2007 French Open final against Federer), the second-longest winning streak in the tournament's history behind Björn Borg's record of 41 consecutive sets. This run came to an end on 31 May 2009, when Nadal lost to eventual runner-up, Robin Söderling in the 4th round in a massive upset. This was Nadal's first loss at the French Open.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, Injury
After his surprise defeat at Roland Garros, Nadal withdrew from the AEGON Championships. It was confirmed that Nadal was suffering from tendinitis in both of his knees. On 19 June, Nadal withdrew from the 2009 Wimbledon Championship, citing his recurring knee injury. He was the first champion not to defend the title since Goran Ivanišević in 2001. Roger Federer went on to win the title, and Nadal consequently dropped back to world No. 2 on 6 July 2009. Nadal later announced his withdrawal from the Davis Cup.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, Return
On 4 August, Nadal's uncle, Toni Nadal, confirmed that Nadal would return to play at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. There, in his first tournament since Roland Garros, Nadal lost in the quarterfinals to Juan Martín del Potro. With this loss, he relinquished the No. 2 spot to Andy Murray on 17 August 2009, ranking outside the top two for the first time since 25 July 2005.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, US Open
In the quarterfinals of the US Open he defeated Fernando González in a rain-delayed encounter. However, like his previous US Open campaign, he fell in the semifinals, this time losing to eventual champion Juan Martín del Potro. Despite the loss, he regained the No. 2 ranking after Andy Murray's early exit.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, World Tour Finals
At the World Tour Finals, Nadal lost all three of his matches against Robin Söderling, Nikolay Davydenko, and Novak Djokovic respectively without winning a set.


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year's summary, Davis Cup final
In December, Nadal participated in the second Davis Cup final of his career. He defeated Tomáš Berdych in his first singles rubber to give the Spanish Davis Cup Team their first point in the tie. After the Spanish Davis Cup team had secured its fourth Davis Cup victory, Nadal defeated Jan Hájek in the first Davis Cup dead rubber of his career. The win gave Nadal his 14th consecutive singles victory at Davis Cup (his 13th on clay).


2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year end ranking
Nadal finished the year as No. 2 for the fourth time in five years.


2009 Rai Open
The 2009 Rai Open was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor red clay courts. It was part of the 2009 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Rome, Italy between 13 and 18 April 2009.


2009 Rai Open, Singles entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2009 Rai Open, Singles entrants, Other entrants
The following player received Special Exempt into the main draw:


2009 Rai Open, Champions, Men's doubles
Simon Greul /  Alessandro Motti def. Daniele Bracciali /  Filippo Volandri, 6–4, 7–5


2009 Rai Open – Doubles
Simon Greul and Alessandro Motti won in the final 6–4, 7–5, against Daniele Bracciali and Filippo Volandri. They became the first champions of this tournament.


2009 Rai Open – Singles
Sebastián Decoud defeated 7–6(2), 6–1 Simon Greul in the first singles' final of this tournament.


2009 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships
The 2009 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 36th edition of the event known that year as the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, and was part of the 500 Series of the 2009 ATP World Tour. It was held at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan, from October 5 through October 11, 2009. Second-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won the singles title.


2009 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, ATP entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2009 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, Finals, Doubles
Julian Knowle /  Jürgen Melzer defeated  Ross Hutchins /  Jordan Kerr, 6–2, 5–7, [10–8]


2009 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships – Doubles
Mikhail Youzhny  and Mischa Zverev were the defending champions, but they chose not to participate this year. Julian Knowle and Jürgen Melzer won in the final 6–2, 5–7, [10–8] against Ross Hutchins and Jordan Kerr.


2009 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships – Singles
Tomáš Berdych was the defending champion, but he lost in the quarterfinals to Mikhail Youzhny.


2009 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships – Singles
Second-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won in the final 6–3, 6–3 against Mikhail Youzhny.


2009 Raleigh mayoral election
The Raleigh mayoral election of 2009 was held on 6 October 2009 to elect a Mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina. It was won by incumbent Charles Meeker, who defeated Larry D. Hudson, II in the first-round primary. Because Meeker won more than 50% in the first round, there was no need for a run-off.


2009 Raleigh mayoral election
It was officially a non-partisan contest, but Meeker had won four previous elections as a Democrat.


2009 Rally America season
The 2009 Rally America season was the fifth season of Rally America. The season consisted of 9 rallies and began on January 30, with the Sno* Drift National Rally in Michigan. The final stage of Rally in the 100 Acre Wood was canceled due to impassable conditions. With six victories, Travis Pastrana claimed his fourth Rally America championship in succession.


2009 Rally America season, Schedule, X Games 15
The X Games had a super stage rally event for their event. This marked 4th time the event was in the X Games, and featured at least 10 drivers from Rally America in head to head competition in a cross over course. 8 of the drivers have already been chosen, including Pastrana, Block, and Foust.


2009 Rally America season, Driver standings
Though Rally America runs 2 other classes, Super Production and Front Wheel Drive, these are not nearly as heavily contested. Travis Pastrana secured his fourth straight championship during the Ojibwe Forests Rally. Foust and Comrie-Picard were unable to attend.


2009 Rally America season, Driver standings
This is only a list of the top finishers, a full list with details can be seen at the Rally America website.


2009 Rally Argentina
The 2009 Rally Argentina was the 29th running of the Rally Argentina and the fifth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 23 special stages and was run on 23–26 April. It was won by Citroën's Sébastien Loeb for the fifth consecutive year. His teammate Dani Sordo finished second.


2009 Rally Argentina
Ford's Mikko Hirvonen, who was in second place only six seconds behind Loeb after stage 14, retired due to an engine problem. This gave Loeb a 20-point lead in the drivers' championship. Hirvonen's teammate Jari-Matti Latvala, under pressure to get a good result after his recent crashes, dropped out of contention for the win after a puncture on Friday. His Focus WRC later incurred an electrical problem, costing over eight minutes, but he was able to continue and finish sixth.


2009 Rally Argentina
Following Ford's problems, Petter Solberg was on course for his second podium of the season, but he soon ran into fuel pressure problems and the third place was inherited by his brother Henning. This marked his career fourth podium finish. Home country's Federico Villagra beat Stobart's Matthew Wilson to take a career-best fourth place. Citroën Junior Team drivers Sébastien Ogier and Conrad Rautenbach both retired on Saturday. However, Ogier re-joined the rally under superally rules and finished seventh. Production World Rally Championship class winner Nasser Al-Attiyah took the last points-scoring position.


2009 Rally Australia
The 2009 Repco Rally Australia was the 20th Rally Australia and the tenth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 35 special stages and was won on the road by Citroën's Sébastien Loeb. However, Loeb's win was short-lived as his Citroën along with those of his teammate Dani Sordo, and Sébastien Ogier were given one-minute time penalties for irregularities with their cars' anti-rollbars. Ford's Mikko Hirvonen inherited the win, for his fourth win in succession.


2009 Rally Australia, Entries
The final entry list included 40 crews. 10 drivers contested in the World Rally Car class and 14 contested in the Production World Rally Championship class. This was the first time in the season that Petter Solberg and co-driver Phil Mills did not compete in their privately entered Citroën Xsara WRC since Rally Ireland.


2009 Rally Australia, Protests
The event was disrupted by environmental activists protesting against the running of the rally, claiming that the event threatened local wildlife. One week before the rally, protesters unsuccessfully filed an injunction against the event in an effort to stop it. During the rally itself, signs were placed around the route of the rally, telling the drivers and those involved in the rally to go home.


2009 Rally Australia, Protests
The CTEK East stages, scheduled to be held on 4 September as the sixth and eleventh stages of the rally, were cancelled after rocks were thrown at the course car and the stage itself was blocked when protesters pulled a fence across the road. Early reports also emerged claiming that protesters had taken animals killed on local roads and placed them along the rally route to give the appearance that wildlife had been killed by rally cars, though these reports were later denied. Following the cancellation of the CTEK East stages, New South Wales police announced that they would prosecute those responsible as public nuisances.


2009 Rally Catalunya
The 2009 RACC Rallye de Catalunya was the eleventh round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season and the 45th running of Rally Catalunya. The rally consisted of 18 special stages and took place between October 2–4, 2009. Citroën's Sébastien Loeb and Dani Sordo took their fourth Catalunya double win in a row. Loeb's title rival Mikko Hirvonen of Ford finished third and will head to the season-ending Rally GB with a one-point lead over Loeb. Petter Solberg made his debut in a Citroën C4 WRC, finishing fourth and recording four stage wins.


2009 Rally Finland
The 2009 Neste Oil Rally Finland was the 59th running of the Rally Finland and the ninth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 23 special stages and was won by Ford's Mikko Hirvonen. This marked his third victory in a row and his first in his home event. Last year's winner Sébastien Loeb of Citroën finished second and took his first podium since the Rally Argentina back in April. Jari-Matti Latvala beat Dani Sordo to the final podium spot.


2009 Rally Finland, Entries
The final entry list included 90 crews – the highest number in any event this season. 18 drivers contested the event in the top category World Rally Car and ten were registered for the Junior World Rally Championship. In addition to usual names, Matti Rantanen, who finished seventh in last year's event in a private Ford Focus RS WRC 06, partnered Federico Villagra in the Munchi's Ford World Rally Team and drove the 2008-spec Focus WRC.


2009 Rally Finland, Entries
Ferrari's 2007 Formula One world champion Kimi Räikkönen made his WRC debut at the event. This was also his first rally on gravel, after competing in two snow rallies in Finland and in a tarmac rally in Italy. As previously, he drove the Super 2000 class Fiat Grande Punto Abarth prepared by Tommi Mäkinen Racing. Räikkönen faced competition from other S2000 entrants such as Juho Hänninen, Anton Alén and Janne Tuohino and from Group N drivers such as Patrik Flodin. Former Stobart M-Sport Ford driver Urmo Aava entered the event in a Honda Civic Type-R R3.


2009 Rally Finland, Summary
As in the previous year's event, the battle for the win was between the title contenders Mikko Hirvonen of Ford and Sébastien Loeb of Citroën. Although Loeb proved faster on the opening super special stage, Hirvonen took the lead when the rally really got underway on Friday, and began building up a lead by about a second per stage. Loeb backed off and settled for second after damaging a tyre and losing 13 seconds on SS15. Hirvonen's win was his first in his home event, after finishing runner-up to Marcus Grönholm in 2007 and to Loeb in 2008.


2009 Rally Finland, Summary
Jari-Matti Latvala, who suffered from food poisoning on day two, passed Dani Sordo to take his first podium in his home event. Petter Solberg also looked set to challenge for a podium place, but suffered a puncture and then went wide and got stuck in a ditch right at the end of the fourth stage.


2009 Rally Finland, Summary
Munchi's Ford driver Matti Rantanen took a career-best fifth place in only his second rally in a World Rally Car. After Stobart's Henning Solberg, Rantanen's main challenger for the position, retired with a broken suspension, Rantanen was chased down by Citroën Junior Team's Sébastien Ogier. Ogier closed to within 0.6 seconds before the final stage but a time only 0.3 seconds faster than Rantanen's kept him in sixth place. Ogier's teammates Evgeny Novikov and Conrad Rautenbach both crashed out. Novikov crashed on both Friday and Saturday mornings while Rautenbach held ninth place until his accident on the penultimate stage.


2009 Rally Finland, Summary
Jari Ketomaa made his World Rally Car debut in a private Subaru Impreza WRC2007 and was another driver to challenge for fifth, the "best of the rest" position. He incurred a puncture and struggled with steering damage on Friday, losing over a minute, but recovered to overtake Stobart's Matthew Wilson for eighth and then began closing in on Mads Østberg in a year newer Impreza WRC. As the Norwegian crashed out on SS19, Ketomaa took the seventh place and his first-ever WRC points, and Wilson eighth and his first-ever point in the Rally Finland.


2009 Rally Finland, Summary
Khalid al-Qassimi finished ninth and production class winner Juho Hänninen beat Munchi's Federico Villagra for tenth place. Martin Prokop won the Junior World Rally Championship category and secured the junior world title. Crowd favourite Kimi Räikkönen impressed in his WRC debut. Despite engine trouble, he held third place in the production class until rolling out at exactly the same place as Østberg. Räikkönen's performance drew praise from the top rally drivers.


2009 Rally GB
The 2009 Rally GB was the 12th and last round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season and the 65th running of the Rally of Great Britain. The rally consisted of 16 special stages.


2009 Rally GB
Sébastien Loeb claimed victory to record a sixth successive world rally title.


2009 Rally Ireland
The 2009 Rally Ireland, officially 2nd Rally Ireland, was the first round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season and was held between 30 January and 1 February 2009, it was also the opening round of the Junior World Rally Championship this season. Sligo was once again the rally base with the special stages being held on agricultural tarmac roads and major tarmac roads in the north west of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.


2009 Rally Ireland, Introduction
The rally returned after a year's absence as to hold the opening round of the World Rally Championship after the Monte Carlo Rally was absent on the year's calendar due to the FIA's Round Rotation calendar system. This happens every two years, so the rally was out for 2010 in favour of Monte Carlo resuming its traditional place as the season opener, but returned in 2011 in the same position.


2009 Rally Ireland, Introduction, World Rally Championship
During Friday, heavy rain dominated the weekend and drivers found it difficult to compete in this kind of torrential weather, also mud became a feature, especially on broken tarmac roads. But Sébastien Loeb took the win second time in the row with Dani Sordo sealing a Citroën 1–2, two events in succession since the inaugural Rally Ireland held in 2007. Mikko Hirvonen once again settled for third place against the Citroën's tarmac wizards, with 2:07.8 minutes behind Loeb. Norway's Henning Solberg was the only of the Solberg brothers present after the no-show of 2003 WRC Champion Petter Solberg.


2009 Rally Ireland, Introduction, World Rally Championship
He finished fourth, his best result on tarmac, but he was almost beaten by Citroën's newbie Chris Atkinson who finished in fifth overall despite some big scary moments, including hitting a telegraph pole on Leg 1 and spinning on Stage 18. Sébastien Ogier finished in sixth ahead of Matthew Wilson in a tight battle, while Khalid al-Qassimi became the first Arab rally driver since 1993 by compatriot Mohammed Bin Sulayem.


2009 Rally Ireland, Introduction, World Rally Championship
But some drivers such as Jari Matti Latvala, who leads after Stage 1 broke his drive shaft after a puncture on two wheels, Ford's new driver Urmo Aava who leads after Stages 2 and 3, slid off the road and crashing without heavy impact at the Aughnasheelan Stage 6, and Conrad Rautenbach slid off at Stage 9 at Sloughan Glen and got his Citroën C4 deeply stuck at the mud, were all able to restart under the SuperRally rules to finish 10th by Aava, 14th by Latvala, and Rautenbach crossed the line in 18th place, and all of them score manufacturer's points for their respective teams.


2009 Rally Ireland, Introduction, Junior World Rally Championship
The JWRC drivers suffered in this torrential weather as well in the rally during the course of the weekend as eight JWRC drivers competed. Aaron Burkart who switch from his longtime associates Citroën to Suzuki this year was confident of the decision, just won his first JWRC rally in his debut with the team, ahead of the Czech driver Martin Prokop, unlike Burkart stayed with Citroën. While a distant third place for Italian Suzuki driver Simone Bertolotti, who previously drove for Renault.


2009 Rally Ireland, Introduction, Junior World Rally Championship
But worst thing happened that Dutchman Hans Weijs jr. who crash heavily at Stage 14 at Tempo under heavy rain that cause to stop some times by rally drivers such as Yoann Bonato and countryman Kevin Abbring, both had activated the SuperRally rules after retiring at Leg 1, had to start their runs all over again because of the incident, but both he and his co-driver were uninjured and  the car was not badly damaged.


2009 Rally Isle of Man
2009 Rally Isle of Man was held on July 9–11, 2009, the 46th Rally Isle of Man and was round 4 of the 2009 MSA British Rally Championship, round 6 of the 2009 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and round 5 of the 2009 MSA British Historic Rally Championship.


2009 Rally Isle of Man
A fifth win in the International section of the 2009 Rally Isle of Man, Mark Higgins became the most successive driver in the event with co-driver Bryan Thomas in a Subaru Impreza N11. In second place was close title rivals in the BRC Championship with Keith Cronin/Greg Shinnors from the pairing of Alastair Fisher/Rory Kennedy in third place both driving Mitsubishi Evo 9 cars. The 2009 Historic Rally provided a seventh overall win for Dessie Nutt with co-driver Geraldine McBride with a Porsche 911.


2009 Rally Isle of Man
The Post-Historic class was won by Steve Smith/John Nichols also driving a Porsche 911 and Classic section won by Gwyndaf Evans/John Nichols with a Ford Escort. The first leg of the Isle of Man Rally Challenge was won by Matt Edward/Rob Fagg and the second leg by Ross Ford/Gary McElhinney both driving Ford Fiesta ST cars. The 2009 Manx Trophy Rally provided the third win for local Isle of Man crew of George Collister/Janet Craine driving a Mitsubishi Evo 3 rally car.


2009 Rally Norway
The 2009 Rally Norway, officially 3rd Rally Norway, is the second round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season and the first round of the Production World Rally Championship and is held between February 12 and February 15, 2009. The rally was held on ice- and snow-covered gravel roads between Oslo and Hamar.


2009 Rally Norway
Rally Norway returned to the calendar in 2009 Season after a years absence. This is the Snow Rally of the season. Historically, the Swedish Rally has usually been the rally held on snow in every WRC Season except 1974 and 1990 due to cancellation, 1994 when it was only part of the FIA 2-Litre World Cup for Manufacturers.


2009 Rally Norway
Petter Solberg, driving a Citroën Xsara WRC car, won the first stage of the rally. But Sébastien Loeb of France won in a Citroën C4 WRC, his second win on snow since the 2004 Swedish Rally, remaining only non-Scandinavian rally driver ever to win a Snow Rally. Loeb finished ahead of Mikko Hirvonen by +9.8 seconds. Jari Matti Latvala finished third, despite having spun on the last stage on the second running of the Budor. The highest placed Norwegian driver was Henning Solberg in fourth, who was in a tight battle for the position with Dani Sordo.


2009 Rally Norway
Sordo had held the position for most of the stages until SS14 Mountain 2, where Solberg passed Sordo for fourth place. Both were under pressure from Swede P-G Andersson, on board a privately entered Škoda Fabia WRC, who passed Solberg at SS7 Finnskogen 2. Andersson had to retire at SS12 Ringsaker 1 when he broke his clutch after hitting a snow bank. Solberg finished in sixth in one peace, although he doubted his clutch would last until the end. He was in a tight battle with Matthew Wilson of Great Britain, who finished in seventh place, ahead of Urmo Aava in eighth who collected his first point of the season.


2009 Rally Norway
This rally marks the opening Round of the PWRC Season and as the WRC supporting event. Previously, the JWRC was the supporting event in 2007. Swede Patrik Sandell won the class. Eyvind Brynildsen and his co-driver Denis Giraudet, Didier Auriol's former co-driver finished second. Czech Martin Prokop finished in third place ahead of Armindo Araujo. Andis Neiksans of Latvia finished fifth ahead of Jaromir Tarabus in sixth.


2009 Rally Poland
The 2009 ORLEN Platinum Rally Poland was the 66th running of the Rally Poland and the eighth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. Rally Poland had previously been part of the WRC schedule during the inaugural 1973 season. The rally consisted of 18 special stages and was won by Ford's Mikko Hirvonen, who took his first-ever back-to-back victories. However, the team's celebration was subdued after Jari-Matti Latvala crashed out from second place on the final super special stage, losing important manufacturers' championship points.


2009 Rally Poland
Citroën's Dani Sordo then finished second and Stobart's Henning Solberg beat his brother Petter to take the final podium spot. Home country's Krzysztof Hołowczyc, a three-time winner of the event, finished sixth behind regular Stobart driver Matthew Wilson. This marked the first time a Polish driver scored WRC points in the history of the series.


2009 Rally Poland
Citroën's defending world champion Sébastien Loeb lost the drivers' championship lead by crashing out in the second rally in a row. However, he re-joined the event under superally rules and with mechanical problems for Andreas Mikkelsen, Mads Østberg and Sébastien Ogier, he had climbed back into the top ten. Citroën then issued team orders and Citroën Junior Team's Conrad Rautenbach and Evgeny Novikov both stopped for enough minutes to let the Frenchman take the eighth place, which eventually became seventh after Latvala's mistake.


2009 Rally Scotland
The 2009 Rally Scotland was the 11th and final round of the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge, and the first edition of the Rally Scotland/ The event was held between 19–21 November during some of the wettest weather seen in the UK. The rally was officially started at the historic site of Scone Palace on Thursday 19th and concluded with a ceremonial finish at Stirling Castle on Saturday 21st. The first ten cars were flagged away at the start by the First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond and Jackie Stewart.


2009 Rally Scotland
The weather and the battle between Kris Meeke and Guy Wilks dominated the weekend with Meeke winning the rally on the road. However, due to a technical infringement involving the front subframe of Meeke's car, Meeke was excluded giving the rally win to Wilks. This was the first IRC win for Guy Wilks.


2009 Rally d'Italia Sardegna
The 2009 Rally d'Italia Sardegna was the sixth running of the Rally d'Italia Sardegna and the sixth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 17 special stages.


2009 Rally d'Italia Sardegna
This year's Rally d'Italia Sardegna has new reforms of this rally, with new stages at the first day & the last day, mostly these new stages are gravel with some section of tarmac that make it difficult for drivers especially the grip of the tyres.


2009 Rally d'Italia Sardegna
Finns Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen took a double win for the Ford factory team. Latvala's win was his career second, after becoming the youngest-ever driver to win a world rally at the 2008 Swedish Rally. Norwegian privateer Petter Solberg took the final podium spot.


2009 Rally d'Italia Sardegna, Summary
Several front-runners ran into problems on stage eleven. Citroën's defending world champion Sébastien Loeb lost over a minute and dropped from third to fourth due to a puncture. His fifth-placed teammate Dani Sordo lost even more time and positions with a turbo problem. Eighth-placed Stobart driver Henning Solberg's day ended after he went off the road and broke his Ford Focus WRC's right-hand front suspension, and Citroën Junior Team's Conrad Rautenbach retired after the stage from tenth place with a damper failure. The rally leader Jari-Matti Latvala of Ford also spun during the stage, but escaped without damage.


2009 Rally d'Italia Sardegna, Summary
Latvala led the event from start to finish, taking Ford's first win since the one-two at the 2008 Rally Japan. His teammate Mikko Hirvonen was less than ten seconds behind after two days and supposed to benefit from running behind Latvala on the road, but dust clouds and the resulting hampered visibility suddenly forced him to settle for second. Ford boss Malcolm Wilson decided against applying team orders.


2009 Rally d'Italia Sardegna, Summary
Loeb, whose record-equaling six win streak came to an end, took the third place back by passing Petter Solberg, but was later given a two-minute penalty for a safety rule violation; co-driver Daniel Elena unfastened his safety belts before the crew stopped the car for a tire change (after the puncture on SS11). Loeb escaped a disqualification as the stewards considered the infringement less severe because it had happened while they were not driving at a competitive pace.


2009 Rally d'Italia Sardegna, Summary
Citroën Junior Team's 18-year-old Evgeny Novikov finished fifth, taking his career first points-finish. Stobart's Matthew Wilson took sixth place despite hydraulic problems that slowed him down on day one. After Khalid al-Qassimi had run into several problems while heading for career-best seventh place, the battle for the position was between two Norwegians who had had troublesome rallies, both losing about ten minutes and re-joining the event under SupeRally rules. Henning Solberg chased down Mads Østberg throughout the last day but only got within 0.6 seconds. Nasser Al-Attiyah edged out Patrik Sandell on the last stage to take the honours in the Production World Rally Championship, while the win in the Junior World Rally Championship went to Martin Prokop.


2009 Rally de Portugal
The 2009 Vodafone Rally de Portugal was the 43rd running of the Rally Portugal and the fourth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. It took place between 2-5 April 2009 and consisted of 18 special stages.


2009 Rally de Portugal
The event was won by Citroën's Sébastien Loeb ahead of Ford's Mikko Hirvonen and Loeb's teammate Dani Sordo. Norwegian drivers Petter Solberg, his brother Henning Solberg and Mads Østberg took the following positions. The last point-scoring places went to Federico Villagra and Khalid al-Qassimi, after Evgeny Novikov crashed out from eighth place on stage 15, and fifth-placed Matthew Wilson and now eighth-placed Conrad Rautenbach both retired on the penultimate stage.


2009 Rally de Portugal
The early leader Jari-Matti Latvala had a big crash on the fourth stage, rolling his Ford Focus WRC 17 times over a distance of 150 metres. Marcus Grönholm, who came out of retirement to contest the rally in a Prodrive-prepared Subaru Impreza WRC, crashed out from fourth place on stage eight.


2009 Real Salt Lake season
The 2009 Real Salt Lake season was the fifth season of the team's existence. After clinching the eighth and final spot in the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs, Real Salt Lake would go on to defeat the Los Angeles Galaxy in the 2009 MLS Cup. The team was the first team in MLS history to win the MLS Cup after finishing the regular season with a losing record (11–12–7).


2009 Real Salt Lake season, Squad, First-team squad
As of July 15, 2009. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2009 Real Salt Lake season, Squad, Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2009 Real Salt Lake season, Competitions, Major League Soccer, Standings
(SS) = Supporters Shield winner; (E1) = Eastern Conference champion; (W1) = Western Conference champion


2009 Real Salt Lake season, Competitions, Major League Soccer, Results summary
Last updated: October 25, 2009Source: Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won;  T = Matches tied;  L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference


2009 Recopa Sudamericana
The 2009 Recopa Sudamericana was the 17th Recopa Sudamericana, an annual football match between the winners of the previous season's Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana competitions.


2009 Recopa Sudamericana
The match was contested by Ecuadorian club LDU Quito, the 2008 Copa Libertadores champion, and Brazilian club Internacional, the 2008 Copa Sudamericana champion. LDU Quito won both games of the Recopa 1–0 and 3–0, respectively. Thus, Liga de Quito won their Recopa Sudamericana title and their second international title.


2009 Recopa Sul-Brasileira
The 2009 Recopa Sul-Brasileira was the 3rd staging of this Brazilian football knockout competition. All matches of the competition were played at Estádio Municipal Domenico Paolo Metidieri, Votorantim, São Paulo. Four clubs participated of the competition: Porto Alegre, of Rio Grande do Sul (runner-up of Copa Arthur Dellagrave), Serrano Centro-Sul of Paraná (champion of Campeonato Paranense Second Level), Votoraty of São Paulo (champion of Copa Paulista de Futebol), and Joinville of Santa Catarina (champion of Copa Santa Catarina).


2009 Recopa Sul-Brasileira, Prize money
The winner of the competition was awarded a prize money amount of R$30,000, and the runner-up was awarded a prize money amount of R$10,000.


2009 Recopa Sul-Brasileira, Competition format
The competition is a one legged knockout tournament played in two stages, semifinals and the final.


2009 Red Bull Air Race World Championship
The 2009 Red Bull Air Race World Championship was the seventh official Red Bull Air Race World Championship series. The 2009 champion was Paul Bonhomme, who won the series for the first time.


2009 Red Bull Air Race World Championship, Aircraft and pilots, New pilots
Four new pilots joined the Red Bull Air Race Series for the 2009 season as Steve Jones left the series. They were Matthias Dolderer from Germany, Matt Hall from Australia, Yoshihide Muroya from Japan and Pete McLeod from Canada. McLeod was the youngest pilot in the history of the series, joining at 25 years of age.


2009 Red Bull Air Race World Championship, Championship standings
(*) indicates the pilot received an extra point for the fastest time in Qualifying


2009 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup
Starting its third season, the 2009 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup season continued the search for future World Champions. The 2009 season begins with two races during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend at Jerez on May 2 and May 3 and ends with another double header at the Czech Republic Grand Prix in Brno on August 15 and August 16. Another six European GPs see single Rookies races on each Saturday, making it an eight-race championship, which is two more races than the last season.


2009 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup
The commercial rights of the championship are held by the rights-holders for the MotoGP World Championships, Dorna Sports.


2009 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup
The Czech Jakub Kornfeil was proclaimed champion in the last race, in only his second season of road racing.


2009 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, Season standings, Scoring system
Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. Rider has to finish the race to earn points.


2009 Red River flood
The 2009 Red River flood along the Red River of the North in North Dakota and Minnesota in the United States and Manitoba in Canada brought record flood levels to the Fargo-Moorhead area. The flood was a result of saturated and frozen ground, spring snowmelt exacerbated by additional rain and snow storms, and virtually flat terrain. Communities along the Red River prepared for more than a week as the U.S. National Weather Service continuously updated the predictions for the city of Fargo, North Dakota, with an increasingly higher projected river crest. Originally predicted to reach a level of near 43 feet (13 m) at Fargo by March 29, the river in fact crested at 40.84 feet (12.45 m) at 12:15 a.m. March 28, and started a slow decline. The river continued to rise to the north as the crest moved downstream.


2009 Red River flood, Background, Geology
The Red River flows from the United States into Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. Since it flows northward, into colder climates, melting snow and river ice, as well as runoff from its tributaries, often create ice jams, which cause the river to overflow. The valley is essentially flat, leading to overland flooding, with no high ground on which to take refuge.


2009 Red River flood, Background, Geology
The Red River flood plain. Low-elevation areas are green, while higher elevation regions are tan and white.


2009 Red River flood, Background, Geology
The Red River around Fargo before the 2009 floods started, as seen from space.


2009 Red River flood, Background, Climate
Ground which was already saturated when it froze at the onset of winter, melting snow which could not be absorbed by the frozen ground, and additional precipitation from high winter snow fall, a rain storm on March 22 and a later snowstorm, high temperature snow melt rate, are reasons for the serious flooding.


2009 Red River flood, Background, Climate
A low-pressure area caused the rain storm on March 22 and by March 25 a total of 15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 inches) fell in the Winnipeg area, and 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 inches) in southern Manitoba. In northeastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota, around 8 inches of snow accumulated from the same storm.


2009 Red River flood, Predictions and preparations, Fargo-Moorhead
Warnings for the 2009 flood occurred as early as March 9 when the National Weather Service warned that the Fargo-Moorhead area could see a significant flood of between 35 feet (11 m) and 36 feet (11 m). As preparations began for the flooding on March 16, North Dakota Governor John Hoeven declared a statewide disaster in anticipation of flooding across the state. On March 19, the National Weather Service raised the predicted flood level in the Fargo area to between 37 feet (11 m) and 40 feet (12 m). The city began filling sandbags on March 20. In anticipation of a rain and snow storm, the predicted crest level was raised on March 22 to a range from 39 feet (12 m) to 41 feet (12 m).


2009 Red River flood, Predictions and preparations, Fargo-Moorhead
Volunteers continued preparing sandbags, with 560,000 bags filled by late March 22, out of an expected 1.5 million to 2 million needed. By March 24, residents in Fargo-Moorhead had filled over 1 million sandbags and were attempting to fill a total of 2 million by the 26th. A levee in Georgetown, Minnesota was raised another two feet, and emergency dikes were being built in Fargo, Moorhead, Harwood, Grafton and Richland County. The predicted flood crest was raised again on March 26, changed to between 41 feet (12 m) and 42 feet (13 m) by March 28, with a possibility of 43 feet (13 m).


2009 Red River flood, Predictions and preparations, Fargo-Moorhead
In addition to the sandbags, the construction of the dikes protecting the city required large amounts of clay. Clay had been brought from several places in and around the city, including the soccer field at Centennial Elementary School and around Discovery Middle School.


2009 Red River flood, Predictions and preparations, Wahpeton-Breckenridge
Elsewhere along the river, early predictions for the Wahpeton-Breckenridge area saw a predicted level of at least 16 feet (4.9 m). By March 24, the National Weather Service predicted the crest in Wahpeton and Breckenridge not to top 18 feet (5.5 m), below the cities' levees.


2009 Red River flood, Predictions and preparations, Grand Forks
In the Grand Forks, North Dakota area, flood predictions released February 27 predicted a possibility of a flood crest between 44 feet (13 m) and 46 feet (14 m). The snowstorm that struck March 9–10 raised the predicted levels between 47 feet (14 m) and 50 feet (15 m) prompting the city to declare a state of emergency. On March 22 the predicted crest level was changed to 52 feet (16 m).


2009 Red River flood, Predictions and preparations, Manitoba
In Manitoba, the 2009 flood was the second worst on record since 1826. The Red River Floodway was not initially opened, due to the Red River being full of ice, which can lead to damage of the floodway and the flooding of Selkirk. The Red River Floodway was opened in early April once the ice jams cleared. Several towns and R.M.s declared a state of emergency due to the ice jams built up in places along the Red. Flooding in Manitoba was not expected until the second week of April. The CPR Line from Winnipeg to Emerson closed.


2009 Red River flood, Predictions and preparations, Manitoba
The floodway was opened around 1 p.m. on April 8 due to a crest expected to hit the city of Winnipeg. Highway 75, a major artery between Winnipeg and the U.S. border, was closed between April 7 and May 13. This closure cost Manitoba trucking companies thousands of dollars in  additional travel costs and severely hurt the economy of the town of Morris.


2009 Red River flood, Predictions and preparations, Manitoba
An eight-year-old boy fell into the river on Thursday,April 9 on the Westroc Hutterite Colony which is near Portage la Prairie. Samuel Gross came out of his 13-day coma after being under icy cold water for 20 minutes. The team under Murray Kesselman, director of the Health Sciences Centre pediatric intensive care unit, worked on Gross's heart for two hours before it started to beat on its own and he began to recover.


2009 Red River flood, Predictions and preparations, Manitoba
Walter Imbeck, 68 years old, went missing since April 11 when friends and neighbours thought he was trying to clear a broken drain behind his home, which was along the riverbank. As of April 13, several communities north of Winnipeg had to be evacuated due to flash flooding and ice jams on the Red River. It was predicted to be the third worst flood, next to the floods of 1950 and 1997. A 79-year-old woman, Mary, died, and her 82-year-old husband, Glen Silverthorn, went missing Easter Sunday after their car was swept into the Woody River. A search commenced, and his body was found on May 19.


2009 Red River flood, Predictions and preparations, Manitoba
Prime Minister Stephen Harper toured the flooded area on April 14, 2009. Damages were expected to be in the millions. On April 15, 2009, Winnipeg declared a local state of emergency due to several of the rivers, which flow into the Red River, swelling extremely fast. On April 16, 2009, the Red River crested in Winnipeg at 22.6 feet (6.9 m) before retreating. If Winnipeg had not had any flood protection, the city would have been 9.23 meters (30.3 ft) submerged. The crest from North Dakota was expected to hit either April 19 or April 20 and forced 28,000 evacuations.


2009 Red River flood, Predictions and preparations, Manitoba
777 km2 (300 sq mi) are under water at some places 19 kilometers (12 mi) wide as reported April 18. 740 people were evacuated from the Peguis First Nation, which is located north of Winnipeg. Peguis Chief Glenn Hudson said "either build a dike, or a floodway around ... I think we have to do something,"   Steve Ashton, minister responsible for the emergency measures organization, said that Disaster Financial Assistance was doubled to $200,000. The Federal Government was expected to assist with up to 90% of the relief, and 100% on reserves.


2009 Red River flood, Predictions and preparations, Manitoba
The province assessed whether homeowner buyouts would be voluntary or mandatory. "We'd look at voluntary buyouts as the first option, but the municipalities have raised this ...they're the ones that have to send in first responders and rescue crews," said Steve Ashton, the province's Emergency Measures Minister. Mayor Sam Katz reported an estimated $5 million for sandbag flood prevention costs, which included making and setting into place the sandbags and patrolling them, and then removing them after the river went back down. Some roads and bridges were also damaged as a result of flooding.


2009 Red River flood, Predictions and preparations, Manitoba
Peguis Chief Glen Hudson estimated the evacuation and dike construction for the first nation reserve was pegged at approximately $3 million. A water quality warning went into effect, and residents who remained were advised to boil water before use. Free water analysis was provided by the Manitoba government until July. On April 20, the total amount of land submerged was upgraded to 1,680 km2 (650 sq mi), and the river crest was still 60 kilometers (37 mi) south of Winnipeg.


2009 Red River flood, Flooding
At 7:15 p.m. CDT on March 26, 2009, the river exceeded the 1997 crest of 39.57 feet (12.06 m) at Fargo, which was the previous second-highest crest. The projected crest was 24 feet (7.3 m) above flood stage and higher than the record-setting floods in 1997 and 1897.


2009 Red River flood, Flooding
At 2:30 a.m. CDT on March 27, the  National Weather Service offices in Grand Forks issued a Flash Flood Warning for extreme east-central Cass County due to a levee breach in Fargo on Lindenwood Drive. With the river more than 6 meters (20 ft) above flood stage, there appeared to be a growing sense in Fargo that despite best efforts, it might not be possible to build dikes high enough to hold back the river.


2009 Red River flood, Flooding
The Manitoba government upgraded the 2009 flood as the second highest to hit southern Manitoba over the last 150 years, just 60 centimeters (24 in) lower than the 1997 Flood of the Century. The highest level in 2009 was 6.9 meters (23 ft), and in 1997 it was 7.5 meters (25 ft). However, without flood control measures such as the Red River floodway, Portage Diversion and Shellmouth dam, the peak would have been 10.2 meters (33 ft), which is higher than the 1950 peak of 9.3 meters (31 ft) in Winnipeg. The Red River showed signs of receding April 23, however the Souris river was expected to crest towards the end of the month of April.


2009 Red River flood, Flooding, Ice jams
On March 25, an ice jam formed north of Winnipeg, causing the municipalities of St. Andrews, St. Clements, East St. Paul and West St. Paul to declare a state of emergency. Flooding from the ice jam necessitated the evacuation of about thirty homes. While the jam was broken, it reformed near Lower Fort Garry, causing the water to rise 4.5 meters (14.7 ft) in 2 hours. On March 31, a state of emergency was declared for the city of Selkirk due to concerns over ice jams.


2009 Red River flood, Flooding, Ice jams
Dominion City was the first town in Manitoba to declare a state of emergency on Monday, March 23. Government officials handed out evacuation alerts to 850 residents. Forty homes north of Winnipeg were evacuated, while dozens of homes were flooded due to ice jams. On Thursday, March 26, some 95 elderly and special needs people were evacuated from the Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation. An engineering firm detonated charges downstream of Bismarck, North Dakota to clear an ice jam which was causing flooding in the city causing an evacuation of 1,700 persons.


2009 Red River flood, Flooding, Ice jams
There were three million sandbags, rolls of poly film Hesco bastion flood walls, and water pumps sent out by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to North Dakota. Both North Dakota and Manitoba used backhoes from the river bank and from bridges, but these machines had a 20-foot (6.1 m)  reach for a 0.25-mile-wide (0.40 km) river. A Chinook helicopter was deployed with a 1,400-kilogram (3,100 lb) concrete weight to try to break up an ice jam, but only small pieces of ice broke away.


2009 Red River flood, Flooding, Ice jams
The North Dakota National Guard used 160 pounds (73 kg) of C-4 plastic explosives on the 3-foot-thick (0.91 m) ice placed into 80 holes. The ice was then coated with road salt to hasten melting. The Army Corps of Engineers also resorted to using sand, salt, chemicals and drilling to alleviate the ice jams. The Manitoba government chose not to use dynamite, as explosives work well on large ice sheets but not as well on broken and fused ice.


2009 Red River flood, Flooding, Ice jams
To set the dynamite, holes need to be drilled in the ice, which would require someone to hang suspended from a helicopter. The end result of dynamite forms a hole centrally in the ice without loosening up the ice jam blockage to allow water to flow past. Manitoba purchased five new certified emergency response trailers (CERTs), which are 15-meter-long (49 ft) tubes with 60 compartments which can be filled with water and used to build dikes. These tubes take 10 minutes to fill up and provide the same protection as 500 sandbags. Volunteers created over 600,000 sandbags to shore up defences against the Red River and unpredictable flows caused by ice jams.


2009 Red River flood, Flooding, Ice jams
Dikes were placed along the shoreline within the city to protect neighbourhoods against ice jam flooding. Over 1,600 volunteers came out since April 1 to assist with creating sandbag dikes which were built 20.5 feet (6.2 m) high. Frozen culverts and sewer inlets were cleared to allow runoff from meltwaters and floodwaters.


2009 Red River flood, Flooding, Ice jams
Amphibex excavator icebreakers were at work breaking up ice flows on the Red River. Ice breakers and backhoes were to be strategically placed along the Red River Floodway, which might have needed to be opened before the ice was fully melted. Officials examined past ice jams and provided contingency plans if the Floodway jammed upstream of bridges or on tight corners.


2009 Red River flood, Flooding, Ice jams
On Easter Sunday, April 12, Winnipeg was clear of ice blocks and ice jams. Sightseers traveling by car, boat, kayak and anyone ignoring road closures were being ticketed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as they were hampering ice clearing operations. Residents of the rural municipalities of St. Andrews and St. Clements were given evacuation alerts on Good Friday. Some chose to remain behind, and rescue efforts commenced for them over the Easter week-end. Homes were smashed in and knocked off their basements and footings by 7-foot-high (2.1 m) sheets of ice.


2009 Red River flood, Flooding, Devils Lake and Stump Lake
There was a 6% chance Devils Lake and Stump Lake would rise to historic levels, which could have caused problems in the Sheyenne River Valley.


2009 Red River flood, Flooding and ice jam mitigation considerations
Structural adaptations to the river channel or the placement of dams and ice booms would control where ice jams would form. Hairpin curves and bridges are problem areas for the jamming of ice. Following the 1997 Red River flood, Grand Forks and East Grand Forks smoothed out some of the river curves in those cities. Rural municipality reeves have approached the Canadian government with a CA$288,000 plan which would use the province of Manitoba's existing Amphibex ice-breaking excavators to dredge the Red River between Selkirk and the mouth of Lake Winnipeg.


2009 Regional League Division 2
2009 Regional League Division 2 was contested by the five regional league winners of the 3rd level championships of Thailand.


2009 Regional League Division 2
Five teams met on a home and away basis, with the top three teams gaining promotion to the Thai 1st Division for the 2010 campaign.


2009 Regional League Division 2, 2009 Regional League Round table All locations, 2009
Red Zone:2009 Regional League Division 2 Bangkok Metropolitan RegionYellow Zone:2009 Regional League Division 2 Central & Eastern RegionGreen Zone: 2009 Regional League Division 2 Northern Region Region Orange Zone:2009 Regional League Division 2 North Eastern RegionBlue Zone:2009 Regional League Division 2 Southern Region


2009 Regional League Division 2, 2009 Regional League Round table All locations, List of qualified teams
Chiangrai United North Eastern Region 2009 WinnersRaj Pracha-Nonthaburi Bangkok & Field Region 2009 WinnersNarathiwat Southern Region WinnersLoei City North Eastern Region 2009 WinnersSamut Prakan Central & Eastern Region 2009 Winners


2009 Regional League Division 2, Champions
The  2009 Regional League Division 2 winners were Raj Pracha-Nonthaburi FC


2009 Regional League Division 2 Bangkok Metropolitan Region
2009 Regional League Division 2 Bangkok Metropolitan Region (Thai: ลีกภูมิภาค กรุงเทพและปริมณฑล or ไทยลีกดิวิชัน 2 กรุงเทพและปริมณฑล) is the 3rd Level League in Thailand. In 2009, contains 10 clubs from Bangkok Metropolitan region.


2009 Regional League Division 2 Central & Eastern Region
2009 Regional League Division 2 Central & Eastern Region (Thai: ลีกภูมิภาค ภาคกลางและภาคตะวันออก or ไทยลีกดิวิชัน 2 ภาคกลางและภาคตะวันออก) is the 3rd Level League in Thailand. In 2009, contains 12 clubs from Central & Eastern region.


2009 Regional League Division 2 North Eastern Region
2009 Regional League Division 2 North Eastern Region (Thai: ลีกภูมิภาค ภาคตะวันออกเฉียงเหนือ or ไทยลีกดิวิชัน 2 ภาคตะวันออกเฉียงเหนือ) is the 3rd Level League in Thailand. In 2009, contains 12 clubs from North Eastern region.


2009 Regional League Division 2 North Eastern Region
The league winners qualify for the end of season Regional Championships with the other four league winners in the Regional setup.


2009 Regional League Division 2 North Eastern Region
Ubon United FC withdrew from the league after playing 16 games, due to a dispute with the Thailand Football Association (FAT). All results were declared null and void. Ubon were also given a 2-year ban from competing. The league table was re-adjusted accordingly, after FAT previously thought about awarding 2-0 victories for the remaining games.


2009 Regional League Division 2 Northern Region
2009 Regional League Division 2 Northern Region (Thai: ลีกภูมิภาค ภาคเหนือ or ไทยลีกดิวิชัน 2 ภาคเหนือ) is the 3rd Level League in Thailand. In 2009, contains 11 clubs from Northern region.


2009 Regional League Division 2 Southern Region
2009 Regional League Division 2 Southern Region (Thai: ลีกภูมิภาค ภาคใต้ or ไทยลีกดิวิชัน 2 ภาคใต้) is the 3rd Level League in Thailand. The first season was played in 2009, starting in March and finishing in August.


2009 Regional League Division 2 Southern Region
The league winners Narathiwat entered the Regional League Championships 2009.


2009 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup
The 2009 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup was an ATP World Tour and WTA Tour tennis tournament held at the hardcourts of the Racquet Club of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee in the United States. It was the 34th edition of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the 24th edition of the Cellular South Cup. The Regions Morgan Keegan Championships was part of the ATP World Tour 500 series on the 2009 ATP World Tour, and the Cellular South Cup was an International-level tournament on the 2009 WTA Tour. Both of the events took place from February 15 to February 22, 2009.


2009 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup
The men's draw was led by Australian Open & San Jose semifinalist plus 2002 champion Andy Roddick, Auckland champion Juan Martín del Potro, San Jose semifinalist plus 2002 runner-up James Blake, Auckland semifinalist and 2006 and 2008 runner-up Robin Söderling, Brisbane titlist Radek Štěpánek, Igor Andreev, Mardy Fish and Auckland runner-up Sam Querrey.


2009 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup
The women's draw was headed by WTA #12 Caroline Wozniacki, Brisbane winner Victoria Azarenka, Lucie Šafářová, Auckland semifinalist Anne Keothavong, Marina Erakovic, Sabine Lisicki, Alla Kudryavtseva and Pauline Parmentier.


2009 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup, Finals, Men's doubles
Mardy Fish /  Mark Knowles defeated  Travis Parrott /  Filip Polášek, 7–6(9–7), 6–1


2009 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup, Finals, Women's doubles
Victoria Azarenka /  Caroline Wozniacki defeated  Yuliana Fedak /  Michaëlla Krajicek, 6–1, 7–6(7–2)


2009 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships – Doubles
Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles were the defending champions, although they are not participating this year. However Knowles is appearing with Mardy Fish.


2009 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships – Singles
Steve Darcis was the defending champion, but lost in the first round to Andy Roddick, who went on to win the title by defeating Radek Štěpánek in the final, 7–5, 7–5.


2009 Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom
The 2009 Elf Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom with Michelin season began at Brands Hatch on 4 April and finished after 20 races over 10 events at the same circuit on 4 October. The Championship was won by Phil Glew driving for Team Pyro.


2009 Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom, Teams & Drivers
All competitors raced in Renault Clio Cup 197s for the first half of the season and Renault Clio Cup 200s for the second half.


2009 Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom, Race calendar and results
The series supported the British Touring Car Championship at nine of the ten rounds. The series skipped the round at Knockhill and instead raced at the World Series by Renault meeting at Silverstone on 4–5 July.


2009 Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom, Standings
Points were awarded on a 32, 28, 25, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 basis to the top 20 finishers in each race, with 2 bonus points for the fastest lap in each race. A driver's best 18 scores counted towards the championship.


2009 Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom, Standings, Entrants' Championship
Points were awarded on the same scale as the drivers' championship but without the fastest lap bonus. An entrant's two highest placed cars in each race scored points and all scores counted towards the championship.


2009 Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom, Winter Cup
The Winter Cup was held at Rockingham on 7 November. It was won by Daniel Lloyd driving for Total Control Racing.


2009 Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom, Winter Cup, Drivers' Championship
Points were awarded on the same scale as the main championship.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches
Republic of Ireland vs France was a two-legged football play-off held on 14 and 18 November 2009 between the national teams of the Republic of Ireland and France as part of the UEFA second round of qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The first match was held on 14 November in Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland, and ended in a 1–0 victory for France with Nicolas Anelka scoring. The second leg, played on 18 November in the Stade de France outside Paris, France, finished 1–0 to the Republic of Ireland (with Robbie Keane scoring). The tie went to extra time and a controversial William Gallas goal enabled by Thierry Henry handling the ball twice made the score 2–1 on aggregate and France progressed to the World Cup at Ireland's expense.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches
After the second leg, the French captain Thierry Henry admitted to Irish defender Richard Dunne that he had illegally handled the ball in the build-up to Gallas' match-winning goal, which had been scored in extra time with 17 minutes remaining in the game.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches
The incident led to calls from the Football Association of Ireland and Government of Ireland to the world governing body FIFA for the result to be set aside and for the game to be replayed, and later for Ireland to be allowed to enter the World Cup as an unprecedented supernumerary 33rd team.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches
Henry, previously seen by many in the sport as a fair footballer, was characterised as cheating, with the incident being compared to Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal, and TIME magazine comparing Henry's goal (sometimes called "Le Hand of God") to a top ten list of sporting cheats. Henry considered retiring from international football due to the reactions to the game, while the Swedish match referee Martin Hansson considered quitting as a referee.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches
The result sparked debate on the issue of fair play in football, and fuelled the ongoing debate on the introduction of video refereeing and Additional Assistant Referees into the sport. At an emergency meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee called in part as a result of the handball controversy, FIFA announced it was setting up an inquiry into the options for technology or extra officials in football, but ruled out any changes being introduced in time for the 2010 World Cup. Henry's case was passed to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee for investigation, which ruled that it could not sanction Henry under the text of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Route to the matches
The qualification process for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa began in 2007, and as Europe-affiliated teams (both being members of UEFA) France and the Republic of Ireland became two of 53 teams competing for 13 places in the finals.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Route to the matches
Under the rules for the 2010 tournament, UEFA qualification was a two-stage process, as had previously been the case for qualification in 2006. Teams were able to qualify automatically by winning one of nine qualifying groups (the first round), and a second chance to qualify was given to eight of the nine second-place finishers via a knock-out phase (the second round) of four games between those eight second-placed teams, contested over two legs, home and away, with the winners of each pairing being awarded one of the four remaining UEFA qualifying places. Both France and the Republic of Ireland failed to qualify as winners of their first-round groups (France in Group 7, the Republic in Group 8), but both teams finished in second place with enough points to allow them to advance to the second round.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Route to the matches
FIFA announced on 29 September 2009 that it would modify the draw system used to select second-round pairings by introducing a seeding system. In the draw, held in Zürich on 19 October, the eight teams were divided into two pots of four; France were seeded along with Greece, Portugal and Russia, while Ireland was unseeded, alongside Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Ukraine. Ireland was drawn to play France, with the first of their two games to be played in Ireland on 14 November 2009. The way the seeding process was handled led some to claim at the time that UEFA had changed the rules halfway through to favour to the higher profile teams like France and Portugal, preferring them to qualify over "smaller" nations.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Route to the matches
The 18 November date of the second leg of the France vs Republic of Ireland play-off in Saint-Denis coincided with the date of a number of other World Cup qualification matches around the world, marking the completion of the entire qualification process for 2010. With their win, France ultimately joined Algeria, Greece, Slovenia, Portugal and Uruguay as the last of the 32 competitors in South Africa.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Route to the matches
Under the agreed tie-break criteria, the team scoring more goals on aggregate wins the play-off. If scores are level on aggregate, the team with the higher number of away goals advances. If teams are level on away goals, 30 minutes of extra time is played. If the score is level after extra time, the match goes to penalties.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Pre-match, Venue selection
The Dublin leg of the tie was held at Croke Park instead of the Republic of Ireland's traditional home venue of Lansdowne Road, owing to ongoing redevelopment of that venue as the Aviva Stadium. The French leg was held at Stade de France, the French team's national stadium near Paris.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Pre-match, Analysis
Before 1990, the Republic of Ireland had never qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals, while France's best record was two third-place finishes, in 1958 and 1986. Between 1990 and 2006 (the year in which the most recent FIFA World Cup had been held), the Republic of Ireland and France had each qualified for three finals tournaments. The two teams' records for the tournament were as follows:


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Matches, Dublin leg, Summary
The Republic of Ireland team chose a balanced 4-4-2 formation, while the French team opted for their customary 4-2-3-1 formation, favouring offensive play over defence.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Matches, Saint-Denis leg, Summary
A controversial instance of misconduct occurred during extra time in the second leg of the two-legged tie, when the overall score was standing at 1–1 on aggregate. French player Florent Malouda took a free kick just outside the centre circle in the Irish half of the field. He lofted it toward French captain Thierry Henry, who was making a run in the penalty area to Irish goalkeeper Shay Given's right-hand side. The ball bounced once to Henry, now inside the goal area to the left of the goal.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Matches, Saint-Denis leg, Summary
As it bounced upwards, Henry handled the ball twice with his left hand, stopping it going out of play and bringing the ball under control, before tapping the ball with the outside of his right foot past Given standing at the near goal post. The ball travelled the short distance to William Gallas arriving in the middle of the goal, who headed the ball into the Irish net to confirm France's place at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Matches, Saint-Denis leg, Summary
The referee immediately signalled the goal as being valid. Irish players inside the penalty box appealed the decision by raising their arms, and as Henry wheeled away in celebration around the back of the Irish goal, Given ran to the referee gesticulating that a handball offence had occurred, while Irish manager Giovanni Trapattoni did the same to the fourth official.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Matches, Saint-Denis leg, Summary
The handball offence was not seen by the referee or his two assistants, according to the BBC. The match officials also missed an offside during the same phase of play.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, View of match participants, Thierry Henry
Henry told a reporter after the incident, "Yes, there was hand, but I'm not the referee. Toto was going for the front, I was behind two Irishmen, the ball ricocheted and hit my hand. Of course, I continued to play... The referee did not whistle 'hand' but I can't say there wasn't hand." Henry later defended himself against criticism, stating, "Obviously I would have preferred that things panned out differently but I am not the official. I do not think we have stolen qualification".


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, View of match participants, Thierry Henry
After FIFA denied the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) request for a replay, Henry released a statement.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, View of match participants, Thierry Henry
The fairest solution would be to replay the game but it is not in my control...Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way that we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa...I have said at the time and I will say again that 'yes' I handled the ball. I am not a cheat and never have been. It was an instinctive reaction to a ball that was coming extremely fast in a crowded penalty area....


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, View of match participants, Thierry Henry
As a footballer you do not have the luxury of the television to slow the pace of the ball down 100 times to be able to make a conscious decision...People are viewing a slow motion version of what happened and not what I or any other footballer faces in the game. If people look at it in full speed you will see that it was an instinctive reaction.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, View of match participants, Thierry Henry
Henry said that he had considered quitting international football after the reactions to the incident, but was persuaded not to by friends and family. He criticised the French Football Federation (FFF) for their lack of support in the aftermath of the controversy. He regretted the immediate celebration of the goal but put it down to the emotion of the moment, and reflected that not informing the referee had been a mistake. On the issue of lasting impact of the incident, Henry said "I don't think that all I have achieved in my career up until now will be spoiled by this".


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, View of match participants, Thierry Henry
Henry later called FIFA President Sepp Blatter over the incident. Blatter stated Henry had told him his family had been threatened over the incident by fans.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, View of match participants, Match referee
The match was officiated by a Swedish team. Martin Hansson was the match referee, assisted by his two assistant referees, Fredrik Nilsson and Stefan Wittberg.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, View of match participants, Match referee
Referee Hansson told Sveriges Radio Blekinge "I cannot comment on the game itself but life must go on. I will ride this storm as well". In his first substantial comment on the incident, Hansson spoke to the regional Swedish newspaper Sydöstran on 24 November. While repeating the fact that FIFA rules prevented him commenting on the game until the investigation concluded, he said the incident was neither his or his referee team's fault.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, View of match participants, Match referee
Referring to a graphic illustration printed earlier in The Times and reproduced in some Swedish newspapers, he said "[the graphic] clears the whole refereeing team in this incident". The picture, titled 'Why the referee missed it', purported to show how neither the referee or the assistant referee could have seen the handball incident, due to the presence of three Irish players blocking Hansson's view from his position on the edge of the penalty area, and Irish goalkeeper Shay Given's position obscuring the sightline of the assistant referee, Nilsson, who was standing on the right hand touchline. He also stated that the reaction to the game had made him consider quitting his job as a referee. On 21 June, during the World Cup finals, Hansson said, "After the game, we were sitting in the dressing room and I cried. I realized what a mistake it was."


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, View of match participants, Team managers
Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni stated he did not blame Henry, nor did he expect a replay would occur, but he did believe the incident would bring further pressure on FIFA to introduce goal-line technology, stating "There is a 30-second stop and we clarify the situation...I'm sure in the future they will have to do something about it. It wasn't up to Henry to say 'I touched it with my hand'". Trapattoni also questioned the selection of the match referee, stating "For this important game we needed a stronger referee – an important referee", and went on to also question the format of the qualifying round matches.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, View of match participants, Team managers
French team manager Raymond Domenech said of the game, "I don't see what we could have done better... We needed to qualify and we did that, even if it was painful. Victories like this one, at the end of a difficult campaign, give this side heart and soul", although criticism in France of his team, which had existed before the game, continued. Domenech later criticised the condemnation of Henry and France, and questioned the right of former French players like Cantona and Lizarazu to criticise his record as the French coach.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, View of match participants, Other players
Ireland captain and scorer of Ireland's goal in the controversial match Robbie Keane criticised the presidents of FIFA and UEFA following the result, claiming they would be 'delighted' that France had gone through. He told BBC Radio Five Live, "They're all probably clapping hands, Platini sitting up there on the phone to Sepp Blatter, probably texting each other, delighted with the result." After Henry's statement, Keane concurred with his call for a replay in the interest of fair play, stating "On behalf of the Republic of Ireland players, I would like to thank Thierry Henry... As captain of the French team, to make such a statement took courage and honour, and all of us recognise that".


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, View of match participants, Other players
In general, the Irish players blamed the officials rather than Henry. Damien Duff admitted he would have done the same had it been to Ireland's advantage, and said: "If it was down the other end and it was going out of play, I would have chanced my arm. You can't blame him (Henry). He's a clever player – but you expect the ref to see it, it was so blatant." Many players, including Duff, supported call for the introduction of video technology. Sean St Ledger hoped France would be put in a 'group of death' in the World Cup draw, but feared they might go on to win the tournament.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, View of match participants, Other players
Defender Richard Dunne later spoke of how he was unaware of the extent of Henry's involvement when he sat down with him on the pitch at the end of the match and admitted the handball. Dunne properly viewed the incident for the first time on a computer in his team's dressing room. He also described how "heartbreaking" the whole experience was, his lack of interest in the draw or who France's opponents might be in the finals and how "disappointing" it would be when the tournament eventually took place.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, View of match participants, Other players
Given was critical of Sepp Blatter's later actions, stating his various announcements "rubbed salt in the wounds" and his contradictory comments about Henry were "beyond a joke". He expressed doubt he would get over the incident in his lifetime. Of Henry, he said "I'm not saying he's a cheat but what he's done is illegal".


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, View of match participants, Other players
Dunne was later critical of Blatter's offer of moral compensation, describing it as "taking the mickey". He doubted Robbie Keane would be going to FIFA to collect any such award. He reiterated the belief that ever since the earlier seedings controversy, FIFA had been showing France unfair favour.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, Action taken, FAI appeal
The FAI filed a formal complaint with FIFA and the FFF, stating, "The handball was recognised by the FIFA commissioner, the referee observer and the match officials, as well as by the player himself." The FAI cited precedent for the invalidation of the result, using the example of a previous World Cup qualification match between Uzbekistan and Bahrain, overturned by FIFA due to a 'technical error by the referee of the match'. In that game, the referee had failed to have a penalty kick re-taken after an attacker encroached on the penalty area.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, Action taken, FAI appeal
FAI chief executive John Delaney said "It is up to the people who govern the game now, if they really believe in the principles of fair play then step forward.... If we had qualified in this manner, I wouldn't be happy" The president of the (FFF) Jean-Pierre Escalettes said "You have to take a philosophical approach to this match."


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, Action taken, FAI appeal
On 20 November, FIFA rejected the request for a replay, stating to the FAI:


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, Action taken, FAI appeal
The result of the match cannot be changed and the match cannot be replayed. As is clearly mentioned in the Laws of the Game, during matches, decisions are taken by the referee and these decisions are final.


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, Action taken, FAI appeal
After FIFA and Thierry Henry's statement, the FAI urged the FFF to respect their views and those of the captains of both teams, to replay the game to "protect the integrity of the game worldwide". The FFF, while sympathetic, endorsed the FIFA ruling. Following the FFF's refusal to support a replay, the FAI expressed "deep disappointment".


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, Action taken, FAI proposals and 33rd team place
At the request of the FAI, Sepp Blatter met an Irish delegation in Zürich for 90 minutes on Friday 27 November. The FAI proposed a number of ways the incident could be prevented in future and, agreeing that the match could not be replayed, they instead also officially requested to be allowed to enter the World Cup as an unprecedented extra 33rd entrant. Blatter stated that he would raise the Irish request at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of the FIFA executive committee. RTÉ Sport speculated that the request would be "politely turned down".


2009 Republic of Ireland v France football matches, Post-match, Action taken, FAI proposals and 33rd team place
The request drew 'laughter' when he relayed it to the Soccerex conference the following Monday. Blatter was of the opinion that if the Republic of Ireland were admitted as an extra entrant, Costa Rica would also have to be considered as well, having also been unfairly eliminated by an offside goal in a play-off against Uruguay. FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke had ruled it out on 1 December, one day before the meeting, clarifying that Blatter's comments regarding other teams had already shown the request was "impossible" and had "no hope" of being granted. According to The Guardian on 30 November, the Irish had not expected the request to be successful, but they had also "asked FIFA to consider compensating them in some other way, perhaps by seeding them in the draw for the 2014 World Cup".