Football: Libya drop in rankings despite CHAN victory
The latest rankings are sure to provoke debates among African football followers.
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Libya dropped one place on the FIFA African football rankings despite winning the African Nations Championship (CHAN) last month.
The tournament, hosted by South Africa and restricted to home-based players, offered ranking points for the first time.
Placed 13 going into the three-week championship, the Mediterranean Knights slipped one place after edging Ghana in a final settled by a penalty shootout.
Libya took a strange route to success with five consecutive draws after defeating Ethiopia 2-0 in their opening group game.
They then drew with Ghana and Congo in other mini-league matches before winning knockout shootouts against Gabon, Zimbabwe and Ghana.
While 2014 World Cup qualifiers Ivory Coast retained the long-held top spot, every other top-20 country moved up or down.
Uganda (18) and Sierra Leone (15) were the biggest climbers -- rising four and three places respectively -- while Mali were the biggest losers , slipping three spots.
The latest rankings are sure to provoke debates among African football followers with modest Cape Verde third, five places above Africa Cup of Nations title-holders Nigeria.
FIFA rankings have assumed increasing importance in Africa with governing football body CAF factoring them into formulas used to determine tournament seedings.
