Proposed new FIFA Rankings system threatens India's climb

If implemented the new system could see a fall in the national team's rank instead of a rise.

A day after watching India successfully win the Intercontinental Cup, the All India Football Federation has been hit with a bombshell after FIFA announced the introduction of an overhaul of their World Rankings. With the introduction of their brand new "Elo" system,  FIFA will attempt to combat the "manipulation" of the current method of FIFA Rankings which has been in place since 2006.

The "Elo System" could be catastrophic for a country like India, with the new rankings looking to make the standings properly reflect the true strength of each national team.  The present method has been under heavy criticism for allowing teams like India to boost their position by scheduling low-risk friendly matches against weaker opposition and climb the FIFA Rankings ladder as a result.

After a FIFA Council meeting which took place on Sunday, the council announced that with the new system comes a new formula based on the "ELO method of calculation". This new method puts more emphasis on the strength of the opponents for each national team and results achieved in meaningful competitions. It also states that strong performances in the knockout rounds of such competitions will be rewarded better as a result.

This new approach of deciding the FIFA rankings could be implemented from the next FIFA rankings, which are due to be announced after the end of the FIFA World Cup in July. But, it could be absolutely catastrophic for India, who have climbed the ladder thanks to friendly matches against weaker opposition over the past few years.  This means that despite winning the Intercontinental Cup recently, based on the new system, India could actually see a fall in the next FIFA Rankings.

This shocking revelation also proves how little the AIFF has actually known about the direction in which winds have been blowing at FIFA. India haVE rarely faced a strong opposition in the friendly matches over the past few years and "Karma" could come back to haunt the complacent AIFF who thought defeating much weaker teams and climbing the ladder would prove the "development" in Indian football.

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This downfall could be a real eye-opener for the AIFF, who will definitely come under huge pressure from the fans to take part in competitions or matches against equally strong opposition. Khel Now has already highlighted the AIFF's shallow planning over the past two years now and this shocking revelation further underlines that.

Just after more fans had started gaining interest in Indian football, this shocker could set it back several years, where the Indian team were ranked 173rd in the FIFA Rankings.