FIFA Ranking to undergo Welcomed CHANGE!!!

[Enugu II]

FIFA Announces Major Overhaul of World Ranking System

https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/06/11/fi ... ir-logical
By 90MIN June 11, 2018


FIFA has announced that changes will be made to the way that the world rankings of international teams are calculated, switching to a method that add or subtracts points from a country's total rather than averaging them over a multi-year period.

It should ensure that countries are less able to attain false rankings by winning a string of less important games or difficult games, as has long been an accusation held against FIFA's system.

FIFA notes that the new Elo method has been used in other sports for a number of years and is even involved in calculating the women's world rankings, with a specific version (SUM) developed especially to take into account FIFA's considerations.

FIFA explains: "Teams gain and lose points based on their performance. The number of points gained or lost is a function of the relative strength of the opponents. Thus a weak team beating a strong team gains more points than a strong team beating a weak team. It is a fair and logical concept."


As well as the relative strength of both teams involved, less importance will be given to friendly games when determining the rankings, while more will be given to the major tournaments. Knockout stage matches will also carry more weight than group stage games.

FIFA have also explained that teams from all over the world will now have an 'equal chance' of rising the rankings after the old weighting variables that favored European and South American nations has been removed.

Host nations, who do not play qualifiers, will additionally not see their ranking as badly affected as before as winning friendly matches will still add to their points tally, even if only slightly. Under the old method Russia slid down the rankings after the Confederations Cup, which had been their only competitive football since 2016 and are now the lowest ranked country at their own World Cup.

I am thrilled that FIFA has finally agreed to throw their current ranking system into the trash where it truly belongs. It was one of the most illogical and brazenly biased system for years. Finally, they have seen the light.

[FATHER TIKO]

Somehow, Infantino's regime seems to be playing brinkmanship with all those "you-know-who" who think FIFA is their property...

First, there is the increase from 24 teams to 32 at the finals...now this...

He didn't learn from Blatter..?

We shall know wetin dey shele if Morocco wins the hosting rights for 2026...

[Enugu II]

Somehow, Infantino's regime seems to be playing brinkmanship with all those "you-know-who" who think FIFA is their property...

First, there is the increase from 24 teams to 32 at the finals...now this...

He didn't learn from Blatter..?

We shall know wetin dey shele if Morocco wins the hosting rights for 2026...

FATHER TIKO,

Even if Morocco does not win, one thing for sure is that he is clipping some wings. The Eurocentrism is being clipped slowly but the direction towards equity is something that people should watch and keep hammering on. Too much Eurocentrism had done serious damage to fairness in the World Cup etc.

[Cellular]

I hope this World Cup throws up some surprises especially when it comes to who qualifies out the group stages.

[cchinukw]

I hope this World Cup throws up some surprises especially when it comes to who qualifies out the group stages.

I feel you bro. I get the feeling that this world cup will throw up some stunning surprises.

[fabio]

Somehow, Infantino's regime seems to be playing brinkmanship with all those "you-know-who" who think FIFA is their property...

First, there is the increase from 24 teams to 32 at the finals...now this...

He didn't learn from Blatter..?

We shall know wetin dey shele if Morocco wins the hosting rights for 2026...

FATHER TIKO,

Even if Morocco does not win, one thing for sure is that he is clipping some wings. The Eurocentrism is being clipped slowly but the direction towards equity is something that people should watch and keep hammering on. Too much Eurocentrism had done serious damage to fairness in the World Cup etc.

@Father Tiko and @ Enugu II... Maybe, it's because of this

Now Uefa sources say serious consideration is being given to not supporting Infantino for the presidential election which comes round next year. Fifa, which Blatter famously called his “little bateau”, needs a steady hand on the tiller.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... -2026-vote

[Enugu II]

fabio,

Na wa ooo! So they already have their knives out because they now feel threatened that the playing field is being leveled and all their privileges are going away. Well, I hope Asia and Africa can fight back. It has been a long time that the rest of the world have been kowtowing to these guys and that should stop.

Man, it is just a lot of BS. I remember when they had their journalist apologists write that World Cup places should be based on how many teams from each Confed gets to the second round. That was a formula stacked in their favor simply based on the law of proportion to start with. Strangely, African journalists bought the crap bait without thinking critically. Very sad, TBH. Hopefully, we are becoming wiser.

Somehow, Infantino's regime seems to be playing brinkmanship with all those "you-know-who" who think FIFA is their property...

First, there is the increase from 24 teams to 32 at the finals...now this...

He didn't learn from Blatter..?

We shall know wetin dey shele if Morocco wins the hosting rights for 2026...

FATHER TIKO,

Even if Morocco does not win, one thing for sure is that he is clipping some wings. The Eurocentrism is being clipped slowly but the direction towards equity is something that people should watch and keep hammering on. Too much Eurocentrism had done serious damage to fairness in the World Cup etc.

@Father Tiko and @ Enugu II... Maybe, it's because of this

Now Uefa sources say serious consideration is being given to not supporting Infantino for the presidential election which comes round next year. Fifa, which Blatter famously called his “little bateau”, needs a steady hand on the tiller.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... -2026-vote

[folem]

fabio,

Na wa ooo! So they already have their knives out because they now feel threatened that the playing field is being leveled and all their privileges are going away. Well, I hope Asia and Africa can fight back. It has been a long time that the rest of the world have been kowtowing to these guys and that should stop.

Man, it is just a lot of BS. I remember when they had their journalist apologists write that World Cup places should be based on how many teams from each Confed gets to the second round. That was a formula stacked in their favor simply based on the law of proportion to start with. Strangely, African journalists bought the crap bait without thinking critically. Very sad, TBH. Hopefully, we are becoming wiser.

Somehow, Infantino's regime seems to be playing brinkmanship with all those "you-know-who" who think FIFA is their property...

First, there is the increase from 24 teams to 32 at the finals...now this...

He didn't learn from Blatter..?

We shall know wetin dey shele if Morocco wins the hosting rights for 2026...

FATHER TIKO,

Even if Morocco does not win, one thing for sure is that he is clipping some wings. The Eurocentrism is being clipped slowly but the direction towards equity is something that people should watch and keep hammering on. Too much Eurocentrism had done serious damage to fairness in the World Cup etc.

@Father Tiko and @ Enugu II... Maybe, it's because of this

Now Uefa sources say serious consideration is being given to not supporting Infantino for the presidential election which comes round next year. Fifa, which Blatter famously called his “little bateau”, needs a steady hand on the tiller.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... -2026-vote

If you really want fairness, then lets do away with regional qualifiers and use rankings or lots and lets see what the qualifying teams will look like. The ranking systems have been changed several times and the weighting of the regions or lack of it had been used earlier in the infancy of the FIFA rankings and you can bet it may change again at a later time. Are you sure that 'Eurocentrism' is being threatened significantly? Under Infantino, the expansion is from 32 teams to 48 teams.

[Enugu II]

fabio,

Na wa ooo! So they already have their knives out because they now feel threatened that the playing field is being leveled and all their privileges are going away. Well, I hope Asia and Africa can fight back. It has been a long time that the rest of the world have been kowtowing to these guys and that should stop.

Man, it is just a lot of BS. I remember when they had their journalist apologists write that World Cup places should be based on how many teams from each Confed gets to the second round. That was a formula stacked in their favor simply based on the law of proportion to start with. Strangely, African journalists bought the crap bait without thinking critically. Very sad, TBH. Hopefully, we are becoming wiser.

Somehow, Infantino's regime seems to be playing brinkmanship with all those "you-know-who" who think FIFA is their property...

First, there is the increase from 24 teams to 32 at the finals...now this...

He didn't learn from Blatter..?

We shall know wetin dey shele if Morocco wins the hosting rights for 2026...

FATHER TIKO,

Even if Morocco does not win, one thing for sure is that he is clipping some wings. The Eurocentrism is being clipped slowly but the direction towards equity is something that people should watch and keep hammering on. Too much Eurocentrism had done serious damage to fairness in the World Cup etc.

@Father Tiko and @ Enugu II... Maybe, it's because of this

Now Uefa sources say serious consideration is being given to not supporting Infantino for the presidential election which comes round next year. Fifa, which Blatter famously called his “little bateau”, needs a steady hand on the tiller.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... -2026-vote

If you really want fairness, then lets do away with regional qualifiers and use rankings or lots and lets see what the qualifying teams will look like. The ranking systems have been changed several times and the weighting of the regions or lack of it had been used earlier in the infancy of the FIFA rankings and you can bet it may change again at a later time. Are you sure that 'Eurocentrism' is being threatened significantly? Under Infantino, the expansion is from 32 teams to 48 teams.

folem,

I think it is treatened but whether it is treatened significantly is arguable. TBH, doing away with regional qualifiers might actually be good as long as FIFA provides travel support for the poorer nations.

But do you think the current ranking system is fair? I would like to know what you think.

[folem]

fabio,

Na wa ooo! So they already have their knives out because they now feel threatened that the playing field is being leveled and all their privileges are going away. Well, I hope Asia and Africa can fight back. It has been a long time that the rest of the world have been kowtowing to these guys and that should stop.

Man, it is just a lot of BS. I remember when they had their journalist apologists write that World Cup places should be based on how many teams from each Confed gets to the second round. That was a formula stacked in their favor simply based on the law of proportion to start with. Strangely, African journalists bought the crap bait without thinking critically. Very sad, TBH. Hopefully, we are becoming wiser.

Somehow, Infantino's regime seems to be playing brinkmanship with all those "you-know-who" who think FIFA is their property...

First, there is the increase from 24 teams to 32 at the finals...now this...

He didn't learn from Blatter..?

We shall know wetin dey shele if Morocco wins the hosting rights for 2026...

FATHER TIKO,

Even if Morocco does not win, one thing for sure is that he is clipping some wings. The Eurocentrism is being clipped slowly but the direction towards equity is something that people should watch and keep hammering on. Too much Eurocentrism had done serious damage to fairness in the World Cup etc.

@Father Tiko and @ Enugu II... Maybe, it's because of this

Now Uefa sources say serious consideration is being given to not supporting Infantino for the presidential election which comes round next year. Fifa, which Blatter famously called his “little bateau”, needs a steady hand on the tiller.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... -2026-vote

If you really want fairness, then lets do away with regional qualifiers and use rankings or lots and lets see what the qualifying teams will look like. The ranking systems have been changed several times and the weighting of the regions or lack of it had been used earlier in the infancy of the FIFA rankings and you can bet it may change again at a later time. Are you sure that 'Eurocentrism' is being threatened significantly? Under Infantino, the expansion is from 32 teams to 48 teams.

folem,

I think it is treatened but whether it is treatened significantly is arguable. TBH, doing away with regional qualifiers might actually be good as long as FIFA provides travel support for the poorer nations.

But do you think the current ranking system is fair? I would like to know what you think.

I will say the current system is unfair (especially against South America) but life is about compromises. No system is perfect but FIFA is rich enough and football is popular and strong enough for regional qualifiers to be done away with.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=288050

This was decided right after Ahmad was elected and it is supposedly a key reason and agenda for COSAFA. WE had discussed it at that time. This clearly represents that agenda. They (COSAFA) wanted qualification on regional basis like is the case with the CHAN and I believe the Olympics. You can see the underlying politics which is to limit qualification from West Africa and give other regions a chance.

[Tbite]

EII, I will not entirely blame the power brokers obviously, we also have ourselves to blame.

but I will say that the lopsidedness of football in just about every arena is worrying. Even within Europe, football is too lopsided. The days when clubs like Redstar Belgrade would triumph are long gone. Yes I am conflating many issues here.

But, I am simply HOPING that football can become more equitable, because it needs to be, and those who have fallen behind (maybe even out of their own doing), hopefully they pick up the slack, and the barriers that may not be of their own doing, lopsided coefficients, financial irregularities, hopefully that is done away with.

This is the largest sport in history (apparently), yet there are only like 5-10 countries at best that matter, that makes no sense.

Maybe certain people want it, but I think the majority do not want this. It is becoming tiring and boring.

[Enugu II]

fabio,

Na wa ooo! So they already have their knives out because they now feel threatened that the playing field is being leveled and all their privileges are going away. Well, I hope Asia and Africa can fight back. It has been a long time that the rest of the world have been kowtowing to these guys and that should stop.

Man, it is just a lot of BS. I remember when they had their journalist apologists write that World Cup places should be based on how many teams from each Confed gets to the second round. That was a formula stacked in their favor simply based on the law of proportion to start with. Strangely, African journalists bought the crap bait without thinking critically. Very sad, TBH. Hopefully, we are becoming wiser.

Somehow, Infantino's regime seems to be playing brinkmanship with all those "you-know-who" who think FIFA is their property...

First, there is the increase from 24 teams to 32 at the finals...now this...

He didn't learn from Blatter..?

We shall know wetin dey shele if Morocco wins the hosting rights for 2026...

FATHER TIKO,

Even if Morocco does not win, one thing for sure is that he is clipping some wings. The Eurocentrism is being clipped slowly but the direction towards equity is something that people should watch and keep hammering on. Too much Eurocentrism had done serious damage to fairness in the World Cup etc.

@Father Tiko and @ Enugu II... Maybe, it's because of this

Now Uefa sources say serious consideration is being given to not supporting Infantino for the presidential election which comes round next year. Fifa, which Blatter famously called his “little bateau”, needs a steady hand on the tiller.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... -2026-vote

If you really want fairness, then lets do away with regional qualifiers and use rankings or lots and lets see what the qualifying teams will look like. The ranking systems have been changed several times and the weighting of the regions or lack of it had been used earlier in the infancy of the FIFA rankings and you can bet it may change again at a later time. Are you sure that 'Eurocentrism' is being threatened significantly? Under Infantino, the expansion is from 32 teams to 48 teams.

folem,

I think it is treatened but whether it is treatened significantly is arguable. TBH, doing away with regional qualifiers might actually be good as long as FIFA provides travel support for the poorer nations.

But do you think the current ranking system is fair? I would like to know what you think.

I will say the current system is unfair (especially against South America) but life is about compromises. No system is perfect but FIFA is rich enough and football is popular and strong enough for regional qualifiers to be done away with.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=288050

This was decided right after Ahmad was elected and it is supposedly a key reason and agenda for COSAFA. WE had discussed it at that time. This clearly represents that agenda. They (COSAFA) wanted qualification on regional basis like is the case with the CHAN and I believe the Olympics. You can see the underlying politics which is to limit qualification from West Africa and give other regions a chance.

folem,

The question was about the ranking system of FIFA and whether you feel it is fair or not. Or is the unfairness that you speak about regarding South American teams in reference to FIFA ranking?

I think that is obvious that doing away from regional system in qualifiers for any competition creates the fairest way to qualify. I believe most of us will agree on that even the African countries if FIFA can put up travel support as I mentioned earlier. However, that is just a part of the issue. The central issue is the fairness (?) of the ranking system.

[Enugu II]

EII, I will not entirely blame the power brokers obviously, we also have ourselves to blame.

but I will say that the lopsidedness of football in just about every arena is worrying. Even within Europe, football is too lopsided. The days when clubs like Redstar Belgrade would triumph are long gone. Yes I am conflating many issues here.

But, I am simply HOPING that football can become more equitable, because it needs to be, and those who have fallen behind (maybe even out of their own doing), hopefully they pick up the slack, and the barriers that may not be of their own doing, lopsided coefficients, financial irregularities, hopefully that is done away with.

This is the largest sport in history (apparently), yet there are only like 5-10 countries at best that matter, that makes no sense.

Maybe certain people want it, but I think the majority do not want this. It is becoming tiring and boring.

Tbite,

I agree entirely. For me, there is need to detect the political barriers and hidden obstacles that continue to create inequality in football. It is a tough road but I believe a lot can be achieved by detecting and systematically removing those barriers and not accept them as permanent.

[folem]

folem,

The question was about the ranking system of FIFA and whether you feel it is fair or not. Or is the unfairness that you speak about regarding South American teams in reference to FIFA ranking?

I think that is obvious that doing away from regional system in qualifiers for any competition creates the fairest way to qualify. I believe most of us will agree on that even the African countries if FIFA can put up travel support as I mentioned earlier. However, that is just a part of the issue. The central issue is the fairness (?) of the ranking system.

Ooops. Well ... that bit was related mainly to the qualifiers. No ranking system can be perfect. Fairness in the rankings is subjective. There will always be criticism of the methodology.

[Tbite]

Compare this change

With this article

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/44431262

Be seeded
Since the World Cup expanded to 32 teams in 1998, all of the eventual champions have been seeded. Indeed, the last non-seeded winners were in 1986, when Argentina were carried to the trophy by Diego Maradona and his 'hand of God'. In one move, we have removed 24 teams in the competition and are left with eight.

Of course being seeded means many things, it could be a proxy for the 'stronger' teams in the WC, fair enough. However, it could also reflect the fact that seeded teams will be placed in more convenient groups, bar the occasional group of death. It would be interesting to compare 2 teams from different confederations (of similar strength), who have had a different pathway in WC history, perhaps due to the coefficient alone!

[Enugu II]

folem,

The question was about the ranking system of FIFA and whether you feel it is fair or not. Or is the unfairness that you speak about regarding South American teams in reference to FIFA ranking?

I think that is obvious that doing away from regional system in qualifiers for any competition creates the fairest way to qualify. I believe most of us will agree on that even the African countries if FIFA can put up travel support as I mentioned earlier. However, that is just a part of the issue. The central issue is the fairness (?) of the ranking system.

Ooops. Well ... that bit was related mainly to the qualifiers. No ranking system can be perfect. Fairness in the rankings is subjective. There will always be criticism of the methodology.

Are you then stating that you are satisfied with the current FIFA ranking system? Is that an accurate assessment of your position?

[Rawlings]

How will this help Naija in any way?

[folem]

folem,

The question was about the ranking system of FIFA and whether you feel it is fair or not. Or is the unfairness that you speak about regarding South American teams in reference to FIFA ranking?

I think that is obvious that doing away from regional system in qualifiers for any competition creates the fairest way to qualify. I believe most of us will agree on that even the African countries if FIFA can put up travel support as I mentioned earlier. However, that is just a part of the issue. The central issue is the fairness (?) of the ranking system.

Ooops. Well ... that bit was related mainly to the qualifiers. No ranking system can be perfect. Fairness in the rankings is subjective. There will always be criticism of the methodology.

Are you then stating that you are satisfied with the current FIFA ranking system? Is that an accurate assessment of your position?

I can't say that categorically, because the ranking systems have been dynamic. The several changes have been done always seemingly to improve things.

[Enugu II]

folem,

The question was about the ranking system of FIFA and whether you feel it is fair or not. Or is the unfairness that you speak about regarding South American teams in reference to FIFA ranking?

I think that is obvious that doing away from regional system in qualifiers for any competition creates the fairest way to qualify. I believe most of us will agree on that even the African countries if FIFA can put up travel support as I mentioned earlier. However, that is just a part of the issue. The central issue is the fairness (?) of the ranking system.

Ooops. Well ... that bit was related mainly to the qualifiers. No ranking system can be perfect. Fairness in the rankings is subjective. There will always be criticism of the methodology.

Are you then stating that you are satisfied with the current FIFA ranking system? Is that an accurate assessment of your position?

I can't say that categorically, because the ranking systems have been dynamic. The several changes have been done always seemingly to improve things.

That is the key -- improve things with fairness being the ultimate goal. You mentioned that no system is perfect. That, I believe, is true of most anything in the world and thus not really an issue. The key thing is striving towards improvement and being as fair as possible. Clearly, for FIFA to admit that its current system is not fair should be an eye-opener and that is what some of us have argued stringently for a while. Most of the points we pointed out are in fact those that FIFA has now stated that it will look to re-work. Hopefully, they will do as they claim because there are things in that system right now that are illogical. Take the use of co-efficients for the confederations and yet the ranking is not a ranking of confederations but of national teams! In such a weird use of coefficients, Luxembourg earns a higher coefficient for example than Nigeria or Senegal but yet is a poorer team. That is just one of several examples. Note also that the rankings attempt to take 4-years of work into consideration, which exacerbates its illogic in terms of attempting to use it to assess the current strength of teams. What people expect in all rankings is that it gives them a good estimate of the strength (current) of each competitor and not an estimate of the last four years. This is exactly why the ELO System is widely acknowledged to be better.

[folem]

That is the key -- improve things with fairness being the ultimate goal. You mentioned that no system is perfect. That, I believe, is true of most anything in the world and thus not really an issue. The key thing is striving towards improvement and being as fair as possible. Clearly, for FIFA to admit that its current system is not fair should be an eye-opener and that is what some of us have argued stringently for a while. Most of the points we pointed out are in fact those that FIFA has now stated that it will look to re-work. Hopefully, they will do as they claim because there are things in that system right now that are illogical. Take the use of co-efficients for the confederations and yet the ranking is not a ranking of confederations but of national teams! In such a weird use of coefficients, Luxembourg earns a higher coefficient for example than Nigeria or Senegal but yet is a poorer team. That is just one of several examples. Note also that the rankings attempt to take 4-years of work into consideration, which exacerbates its illogic in terms of attempting to use it to assess the current strength of teams. What people expect in all rankings is that it gives them a good estimate of the strength (current) of each competitor and not an estimate of the last four years. This is exactly why the ELO System is widely acknowledged to be better.

Talking about the dynamics ....

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=69257

Alas to all the FIFA ranking System haters. They have listen and will be making improvements immediately after the WC.
PEACE!!!
12lion
____________________________________________________
Changes will be made after this summer's World Cup in Germany
Fifa has announced an overhaul of its world ranking system after complaints that it was too complicated.
The main change is that a national team's ranking will be based on results from the last four years, not eight.

Goals scored and home advantage will no longer have any bearing on placings and other aspects, including importance and strength of matches, have been revised.

The changes will come into effect after the World Cup ends on Sunday, with the first new rankings revealed on 12 July.
[
Fifa president Sepp Blatter said: "I am convinced that our experts have come up with a satisfactory solution for a new way of calculating the ranking.

"We have acknowledged the need for a substantial revision. We are aware that it is difficult to meet everybody's expectations but are confident that the new system will provide an accurate measure of the strength of each of our member associations."

____________________________________________________

It helps but it will still not make the ranking okay. Sure, they have listened to what all reasonable critics have said all along about the ranking. However, the four-year length is still long. I think that FIFA's bid to use this ranking for determining WC seeding is a big problem. It would be best to separate both. Simply use WC history (not the monthly ranking system) to determine WC seeds. The ranking should be far more fluid with a significant part of the factors focused on very recent games and not stretch back four years!

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=164185&p=2562348

Pajimoh:

If you have read my position on this, you will realize that I argue that no ranking system would be perfect because of the object that is being ranked -- a human art form (football) -- is affected by several things that are difficult to predict. In any case, I will argue that team strength is not objective except in so far as one uses the result of a specific game. Beyond that, it is largely indeterminate. However, I believe that the American system (i.e. the qualitative ones) are better indicators of recent/current team strength. That is they change based on recent results obtained by a team. FIFA's current system gives weight to this issue but not enough weight.

Frankly, FIFA rankings are RUBBISH and you can take that to the bank. Here, as is usdually the case, most of us argue and expect that the rankings reflect current form of teams. That is EXACTLY what all fans expect from a ranking of the team. However, if you read the indices for this ranking you will realize that it has lilttle to do with the current strength of the teams but all to do with the strength of the team over several years. It is that disconnection which makes FIFA ranking RUBBISH.

Actually that makes perfect sense to me

Surprising. Why then are the various posts arguing about the current strength of the teams? If the guys posting on this thread are in agreement thenthey should be arguing on the aggregated performances of the teams over a period of time and not their performance on a recent occasion.

Cannot use strenghts of the team as a basis for rankings because strenght is objective. A team that is clearly stronger can still lose to a weaker team and also a strong team might be out of form and sorts at any given time. It will make it imposible to administer the rankings. The est thing is performance. It's been the case that active teams gets ranked higher than inactive teams. Also the ranking is cumulative. Ghana getting to semi finals will not make them the second best team in Arica on rankings if they were previously ranked 30th in Africa. It's about points per game and the cumulative effect of that on the table

[Enugu II]

folem,

I would like a debate rather than pulling up a previous quote of me that merely regurgitates what I am stating. Something that denies the position should be more informative and will have the ability to advance a debate on the issue. Let's learn about a position that goes against the issue.

[folem]

folem,

I would like a debate rather than pulling up a previous quote of me that merely regurgitates what I am stating. Something that denies the position should be more informative and will have the ability to advance a debate on the issue. Let's learn about a position that goes against the issue.

I'm only emphasizing the fact that the rankings will always change with the times to reflect current trends or to react to perceived manipulations and/or weaknesses. No system will be free of criticism. Do you think any ranking methodology will be agreeable to all?

[Enugu II]

folem,

I would like a debate rather than pulling up a previous quote of me that merely regurgitates what I am stating. Something that denies the position should be more informative and will have the ability to advance a debate on the issue. Let's learn about a position that goes against the issue.

I'm only emphasizing the fact that the rankings will always change with the times to reflect current trends or to react to perceived manipulations and/or weaknesses. No system will be free of criticism.

No doubt that all things can be criticized and surely those criticisms lead to improvements. FIFA ranking had a long way to go because of how much it was on the LEFT field and I believe that the latest admission by FIFA will be helpful. Right step in the right direction.