As our footballers take a 50-day break induced by the African Nations Cup starting next week, we have been treated to the delightful news that the Egyptian football league is the 26th best in the world, according to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS). The IFFHS also places Ahly as the 42nd best team in the world. The club criterion for The Best rests on the results of 12 months of continental and intercontinental competitions, national league matches (including play-offs) and the most important national cup (excluding points won before the round of 16). All countries are rated at four levels based on the national league performance - clubs in the highest level leagues receive 4 points for each match won, 2 for a draw and 0 for a defeat. Level 2 is assigned 3 points (win), 1.5 (draw) and 0 (lost), and so on with the next lower levels. In continental competitions, all clubs receive the same number of points at all stages regardless of the performance level of their leagues. However, the European Champions League and Libertadores Cup yield more points than lesser competitions like the UEFA Cup. The point assignment system is still lower for African, Asian, CONCACAF and Oceania continental tournaments.This IFFHS rating system thus places Ahly as currently the world s 42nd best football team, and if you think that s good, Ahly was even better - for 21 consecutive months the best Arab and African club starting from 2005. The pride of place position now belongs to Etoile of Tunisia which jumped from 53rd to 40th place thanks to its win in the African Champions League - at Ahly s expense - and coming fourth in the world club championship in Japan last month. As precise as the club world ranking is, IFFHS does not reveal the same profound analysis that went into deciding the best league. As such, we don t know on what basis the Egyptian league placed so high. The English Premiership remains the best, as it should. It is also normal that La Liga of Spain is second, Seria A of Italy third and the Brazilian league fourth. But the Egyptian league - 26th in the world? Like you, we are a wee bit skeptical, having imagined our league to be more like the 260th best. Perhaps it has something to do with the number of goals scored. In the 119 games played thus far, 302 goals have been scored for a more than decent 2.53 average. (helped by nine own goals). The goal tally is 30 more than last year at this time and 50 better than the year before. At this pace, the players will easily break last year s 528 goals overall. Our exceptionally high league standing could also be attributed to the number of excitingly late goals being scored. Sixty-four goals have been netted in the dying minutes. In week number three, for instance, five goals found their mark between the 90th and 93rd minute - meaning that many teams have crept out of their defensive shell and are now willing to take risks. They are no longer willing to settle for a draw or even a one-goal lead. Another explanation: not many of our players go abroad. Less than 20 Egyptians play in Europe as opposed to 721 Africans. Consequently, our league has not been diluted much, but when names like Drogba, Essien, Eto o, Diarra, Kanoute and Adebayor leave home, they leave behind weakened local leagues. So our league is high in the world despite some limitations. First, our federation does not allow more than three foreigners per team, limiting its star potential. Second, clubs are frugal when it comes to spending - just LE 40 million for players in the off-season, whereas the Spanish league shelled out 361 million euros, or LE1.5 billion, for the same purpose. Third, Ahly s nine point cushion at the top of the league table at the halfway season precludes a down-to-the-wire race, and hence the thrill, for the league title. Free of any subjective influence, the IFFHS has stated its case. On this one, the jury s out.
