Rwanda misses out on football league rankings

FOLLOWING poor performance of local clubs in CAF competitions, Rwandan football league has been omitted from global rankings released by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFHHS).According to IFHHS, the ranking was not based on the financial power of the leagues, but on the performance of a country’s clubs in CAF competitions. The clubs’ performances were assessed from January 1 to July 10 2012.Both APR FC and SC Kiyovu took part in Orange Champions league and Confederation Cup but suffered early exits from the competitions in the first round and preliminary round this year.APR FC lost to Tunisia’s Etoile du Sahel in the first round after dispatching Kenya’s Tusker in the preliminary round, while Kiyovu suffered a shock preliminary round exit, losing to Tanzania’s SC Simba.This development comes at a time when the country has suffered poor rankings in FIFA monthly ranking, dropping again by six places from 119 in June to 125 this month.The slump was largely caused by Amavubi’s poor performances in the FIFA/CAF World and Africa Nations; qualifiers.Nigerian Premier League (NPL), emerged the strongest African league and 24th in the world.The IFHHS added points won in all continental competitions by the five best-placed clubs of the NPL.Tunisia’s top flight, which has reigning African champions, Esperance, is in second place in Africa and 31st in the world. The Ghanaian Premier League is in third place but tied on points with Morocco.With no competition taking place in Egypt since January 2012, the country’s Premier League is ranked ninth on the continent despite having two clubs in the CAF Champions League.Africa’s top 10 leagues are Nigeria (24th in the world), Tunisia (31), Ghana (38), Morocco (38), Mali (40), Algeria (41), Sudan (44), South Africa (51), Egypt (54), Cameroon (58), Uganda (88), Senegal (91), DR Congo (95), Ethiopia (100), Gambia (106), Tanzania (107), Mozambique (118), Burkina Faso (120) and Kenya (122).Every July it is possible to make the first assessment of the relative strengths of the various leagues. The methodology for determining the current strength of the national leagues is unchanged since 1991 and has proved to be a sensitive and accurate indicator.

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Rwanda misses out on football league rankings