SVGFF to pay attention to the rankings

Despite believing the Coca Cola FIFA world Football Rankings can be “artificial”, President of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) Joseph Delves said that his organization will be paying attention to St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ current status.{{more}}

The latest ranking released last week showed this country at position number 150, up from 153 in July’s rankings of all 203 nations eligible for a placing. The slippage has been mainly occasioned by the protracted lack of activity by the senior national team “Vincy Heat”.

Their last engagement was their meeting in June 2008 against Canada in the World Cup qualifiers.

Delves, the local football boss, said that while he sees the rankings as important, he pointed to the fact that Barbados, which is ranked 106th, cannot beat St. Vincent and the Grenadines regularly.

Since its best position of 73rd in the world, earned at the October 2007 ranking, St. Vincent and the Grenadines has showed a continuous slide in the table, plunging to as low as 157th in the March 2009 postings. This country’s lowest ranking ever was 170, attained in February 2004.

In October 2007, this country also enjoyed its best status in CONCACAF, breaking into the confederation’s top ten, as it was positioned at ninth, and third in the Caribbean Football Union’s (CFU) standings.

In the latest rankings, August 2009, St. Vincent and the Grenadines is at 21st in CONCACAF and 12th in CFU.

Delves told SEARCHLIGHT that a concerted effort is being made to have the flagship team, the senior Vincy Heat, in action soon.

He outlined a planned trip to engage 113th placed Grenada at the end of August or early September in Grenada. The Grenadians, runners up in the 2008 Digicel Caribbean Championships, earned a place in this year’s prestigious CONCACAF Gold Cup held in the USA last month.

Delves also mentioned an upcoming friendly tour to Barbados by the senior women’s outfit, as according to him, “their involvement also affects the rankings”.

The Football President once more spoke of the planned revival of the Windward Islands tournament, involving Dominica, St. Lucia, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

However, such engagements may not be beneficial to the rankings as St. Lucia stands at 190 and Dominica 197.

Delves, whose Executive was voted into office October 2007, listed the cost of air travel, among other factors which have stalled their efforts to get the senior teams involved in friendly internationals.

He cited a request from an African team to come here to play, but said the cost of US$75,000 in match fees and other costs was highly prohibitive for his organization.

Caught in a bind, Delves stated that the teams ranked higher than this country have little or nothing to gain in opposing Vincy Heat.

He said that St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ football issues are no different from other regional nations, except for the higher tiered countries like Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

Delves added that the global economic situation has impacted negatively on many of his Executive’s plans .

“It is not easily overcome, as we have small economies,” Delves argued.