Bafana Bafana will have the opportunity to earn extra FIFA points to strengthen their position on the official FIFA rankings, during the upcoming Chan Tournament which takes place from January 11- February 1in South Africa. This was after FIFA announced that all games played in the tournament would receive 'A' status recognition.
Previously the CHAN was not afforded 'A' status which meant games played in the competition were only recognised as friendlies and subsequently recieved lesser points as a result. For friendly matches, FIFA only award one point for a win, whereas in a Confederation-level competition like the 16-team Chan tournament, three points are now awarded for a win.
What this means is that if Bafana can possibly go all the way in this competition and perhaps even win the event, the national team can essentially treble their points haul and move higher up the world rankings.
Fifa's decision to award the tournament 'A' status recognition appears to be confusing as the Chan tournament doesn't neccesarily feature the best players from each country taking part. The Chan only allows players who compete in their country of birth to take part.
Nonetheless, despite FIFA's seemingly unbalanced view on scoring the competition, Bafana could still take advantage by doing well and moving smartly up the FIFA rankings. The national team currently sit in 62nd place and if they win the CHAN tournament they could move into the top 50.
