An image recognition apparatus is configured to recognize movements of players in a sport match or game from contents recording a sport match or game wherein the players match against each other between domains partitioned with such an obstacle as net, the image recognition apparatus including: a picture information obtaining section configured to obtain picture information containing an image of a movement of at least one of the players from the contents; a sound information obtaining section 103 configured to obtain sound information generated in synchronism with the picture information from the contents, the sound information including information on a hitting sound generated upon hitting of such an instrument as a ball moving between the domains; a hitting time information specifying section 105 configured to specify a hitting time at which the instrument is hit based on the sound information; a rule information storage section 102 configured to store rule information for carrying out the sport match or game; and an image substance recognizing section 106 configured to recognize a substance of an image containing the image of the movement of the player provided by the picture information based on the picture information, a position of the instrument at the specified hitting time and the rule information.