I don’t understand the FIFA world rankings. And I doubt you understand the FIFA world rankings. Largely because the FIFA world rankings make little sense. But the latest FIFA world rankings are nonetheless available for us all not to understand. Ten African teams make the top 50, with Egypt (11), Ghana (17), and Ivory Coast (19) leading the way. South Africa’s Bafana Bafana slides in at #52, just behind New Zealand.
African soccer officials are on another list. But this one inspires a whole lot less pride than the one that reflects performance on the pitch. Football’s international organizing body will provisionally suspend two of the soccer governing body’s executive members and is going to launch investigations against four more FIFA members. One of the suspended members is Amos Adamu from Nigeria, a country whose football infrastructure is riddled with corruption and malfeasance. Three of the four under further investigation are also from Africa, including Slim Aloulou of Tunisia, Amadou Diakite of Mali, and Ismael Bhamjee of Botswana.