FIFA defend criticised ranking system

Good picture of the level of international football, says body’s general secretary.

The latest Fifa rankings came under heavy fire after England, who lost to Italy in the Euro 2012 quarter-finals, rose to fourth in the world while Brazil were down to 11th with Fifa later admitting the system may sometimes appear to be ‘not logical’.

England rose two places with only World and European champions Spain, Germany and Uruguay ahead of them and are expected to reach their highest-ever third next month. Euro 2012’s losing finalists Italy are sixth.

“I know that these rankings are sometimes quite difficult to understand due to the level and numbers of criteria that are taken into account,” said Fifa Secretary General Jerome Valcke.

“There are teams who are playing more friendly games than other teams and you can see a difference which is not very logical, but the ranking is clearly still a good picture of the level of international football.Brazil are not playing official games, just friendly games as they are already qualified.

“There have been internal meetings and also with the football committee to discuss the ranking of the different nations. We want to be able to explain in an easier way how this ranking is based.”

The rankings are based on an international side’s results over the previous four years, with more points awarded from competitive matches than qualifiers.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 8^th, 2012.