Contrary to reports suggesting that Bafana Bafana's 1-0 win over Spain would reflect in the December edition of the FIFA world rankings, FIFA have confirmed that the win was included in the November rankings, as initially announced.
The Siya crew received a statement from the world governing body on Thursday which indicated that Bafana's famous result over the world champions would not be downgraded from an 'A' International, and that the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosts would get the rankings points earned for the win.
Read: FIFA: Bafana Get Their Points
In the statement, it was indicated that the points were included in Bafana's rankings for the month of November, "The match shall be considered as an official match and is therefore included in the November edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking."
However, there was confusion later in the day as SAFA president Danny Jordaan said, via a statement released on SAFA's official website, "We expect that the impact of the victory will be reflected in the next December FIFA rankings as the ruling arrived on the date the November ranking were released."
FIFA, though, have indicated that their decision on the points must have been made prior to the announcement of the latest rankings, and therefore included in the edition that came out on Thursday.
"As indicated in our statement released on Thursday (28 November 2013), the match was included in the November edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola rankings," a FIFA spokesperson told the Siya crew.
"It is important to note that the results of South Africa over the past four years are considered as part of the FIFA Ranking so one good result or one poor result does not necessarily result in a big jump or big fall."
This means that the win certainly can add long-term value over the next few months, as long as Bafana continue earning good results.
Read: Why Bafana Didn't Move...
By: Soccer-Laduma
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