Mistake in the English FA work permit FIFA ranking averages

Last week I wrote about the UK work permit and a comment (I did say I have some very knowledgeable readers) made me realize a mistake I've made in my research - and this helped me find a mistake in the ranking produced by the English FA.

First of all, the English FA doesn't use the average FIFA ranking, but the ranking of the averages :)



"The player’s National Association must be at or above 70th place in the official FIFA World Rankings when averaged over the two years preceding the date of the application."
The FA does indeed publish these rankings, although they are a month behind schedule.

Second, the two years are in months, not in days as I assumed.

See for instance the July 2010 - June 2012 ranking.

I said Zambian players will be eligible for a work permit in August and I was surprised to see this June 2012 ranking has Zambia 70th, thus already eligible. Behind them in the FA ranking, are Albania (71st) and Lithuania (72nd). Estonia are 68th. While it makes no difference for Lithuania and Estonia (EU member), it does impact Albania (non-EU country).

I ran a query in my database and Zambia should be 72nd in this ranking, Lithuania 67th, Estonia 71st and Albania 69th.

FIFA's compare teams tools proof. As you can see Albania's average ranking is better than Zambia's.


If an English club would like to buy an Albanian player, the FA would not grant him a work permit, because of this mistake in their ranking.

This is the list of Albanian players that would qualify for a work permit:

Name (Position) - Current Club - Maket value in millions of Euro according to TransferMarkt - Age

Kristi Vangjeli (D)	Chornomorets Odessa (UKR)	1	26
Andi Lila (M)	PAS Giannina (GRE)	0.75	26
Gjergj Muzaka (M)	Skenderbeu Korce (ALB)	0.425	27
Lorik Cana (M)	Lazio (ITA)	5	28
Hamdi Salihi (F)	DC United (USA)	1.1	28
Armend Dallku (D)	Vorskla Poltava (UKR)	2	29
Ansi Agolli (D)	FK Qarabag Agdam (AZE)	0.35	29
Klodian Duro (M)	KF Tirana (ALB)	0.125	34
Erjon Bogdani (F)	Siena (ITA)	0.4	35

Lorik Cana is the only Albanian player with EPL experience - he featured in 31 games for Sunderland in 2009/2010 season.

I did inform the English FA about it and they said they will look at the figures as soon as they have the time - now being very busy with player registrations. Yes, they actually answered :)


The FA also forgot to include Sao Tome e Principe in the ranking of averages.

This Zambia-Albania issue is the only difference affecting the work permit rule. There are more differences not affecting this rule (i.e. work permit status would be the same). Top 25 differences:


Team - Correct rank - FA rank - Difference (absolute value)

Sao Tome e Principe	208	153	55
Central African Republic	118	126	8
Belize	152	158	6
Lithuania	72	67	5
Haiti	93	98	5
Nicaragua	158	163	5
Aruba	181	186	5
Burkina Faso	54	50	4
Uganda	82	78	4
Sierra Leone	92	96	4
India	156	152	4
Bahamas	172	176	4
Tahiti	180	184	4
Serbia	26	23	3
Sweden	23	26	3
Ecuador	48	51	3
Bulgaria	64	61	3
Morocco	67	70	3
Estonia	68	71	3
Wales	78	81	3
FYR Macedonia	91	88	3
Moldova	112	109	3
Indonesia	139	136	3
Liberia	134	137	3
Bermuda	144	147	3

Zambian players will be eligible after the August 2012 ranking is published by FIFA.

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About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.