India jumps three places in the latest AFC club competition rankings

by Chittu Shetty October 24, 2017

India are currently positioned at 12th in the latest club competition rankings released by the Asian Football Confederation on Monday, the 23rd of October.

The club competition rankings are a comparative assessment of the performance of the clubs belonging to various Member Associations (MA) of AFC. The rankings of the country depend on its clubs performances in AFC competition as well as National teams FIFA ranking, although the national team’s ranking has just 10% weightage in the whole scenario.

India, previously positioned at 15^th spot, jumped three places to 12th Courtesy of their sudden rise in FIFA rankings as well as points won in club competitions. The performances of Bengaluru FC in the Asian circuit has given a huge benefit for the country in the club ranking points after the Indian side reached the final of the AFC Cup in 2016, followed by a semi-final finish this year.

Mohan Bagan, the other Indian side that took part in the competition, failed to make it past the group stage but with the Round of 16 – finish from last season, the marines have contributed with some points too.

Club points are an average of the performances of all the teams from the same MA in one season. Asia’s top FIFA ranked side Iran are currently ranked 7^th in the MA raking while UAE lead the table. Iraq, on the basis of Air Force Club’s AFC Cup win over Bengaluru in 2016 and now having reached the final for this season, sit one place above India in 11th.

India as a MA, are counted in the South Zone and fall into the West Asia circle which comprises the West and South Zones of Asia. India are currently 7th in West Asia, behind UAE (1), Saudi Arabia (4), Qatar (6), Iran (7), Uzbekistan (9) and Iraq (11). The top 6 West Asian country gets a direct slot in to AFC Champions League if India could manage to sneak in to the top 6 before December 2018, Aizawl FC will have a direct spot in group stage while BFC would get a play-off spot. The above circumstance is highly unlikely through gaining match points, as unlike India, the 6^th placed West Asian team Iraq has 10 points lead along with Air Force Club still to play in the final.

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If Indian club’s good performance in the AFC Cup campaign continues in the 2018 run, there is a high chance of an Indian team getting a direct slot in to the AFC Champions league for 2019 season. No Indian side has managed to play in the group stage of Asia’s top league falling at play-off stage itself.

Current I – league champions-Aizawl FC will play in the play-off stage for 2018 season. And a qualification to the group stage would mean an historic achievement for India as Aizawl FC would become the first club to play in the league ever since it was incepted to the current format in 2002.

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