Concacaf launches new ranking system for region’s clubs and leagues

May 17, 2023 Sports

Kaieteur Sports- Concacaf, the governing body for football in North and Central America and the Caribbean, has announced the launch of an innovative new ranking system for clubs and leagues in the region.

This new system will be a crucial part of the Confederation’s revamped club ecosystem and will play a key role in determining draw seeding for official Concacaf club competitions beginning with the new 2023 Central American and Caribbean Cups and onwards.

The new dynamic rankings will be regularly updated following international club competitions, domestic league, and cup matches.

They will be publicly available on Concacaf.com and will provide fans with an engaging way to track the progress of their favourite club and league week after week as they compete with the very best in the confederation.

The calculating formula has been developed in a way that allows clubs to know ahead of each match how many ranking points they can gain or lose depending on the result (win, draw, or loss).

Clubs gain more ranking points for defeating a higher-ranked opponent and lose more ranking points should they be defeated by a lower-ranked opponent. Home-field advantage is also a factor.

In addition to an individual club ranking, Concacaf is launching a league ranking index to determine the strength of domestic professional leagues based on the performances of their clubs in international competitions. For the league ranking, only international matches are considered, and matches from the Concacaf Champions League will award twice the points in comparison to Concacaf Regional Cups.

This new system is a significant step forward for football in the region, as it will provide a more accurate reflection of the relative strengths of clubs and leagues. It will also ensure that the most deserving teams are seeded appropriately in official Concacaf club competitions, making for more exciting and competitive matches.

Performances in these competitions this season (2023), and going forward in the coming years, will continue to be used to determine the new club ranking.These competitions are weighted in terms of the ranking points available per match, with international matches awarding more ranking points than domestic first-division league and cup matches.