A NEW world ranking system for hockey, designed to increase opportunities for all teams to gain points, will be used from Jan 1.
The fresh approach — which has been approved by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) executive board — sees a switch from the existing tournament-based world rankings to a more dynamic match-based system.
The outgoing ranking system. introduced in 2003, was devised to allocate teams into pools at tournaments.
The old model operated well on various levels, ranking the top teams who participated in FIH and continental events allowing those nations to earn ranking points two to three times per year.
However, the restrictions of the tournament-based system — including the limited opportunities for lower-ranked teams to earn points, the degree of subjectivity required to determine the relative strengths of the five continents in order to calculate continental ranking points, and the fact that over 60 per cent of international matches had no ranking points on offer — provided an ever-strengthening case for a change of approach.
The new match-based system involves an exchange of points between the two teams competing in each FIH-sanctioned match played.
The number of points exchanged depends on a trio of factors — the result of the match, the relative ranking of the teams and the importance of the match.
FIH sport and development director Jon Wyatt said: “This new match-based ranking system will reflect current performance of all nations far more accurately than the previous system, and provide the chance for nations to demonstrate to their players, fans, media and funding bodies where they stand within the world of hockey and how they can move up the ranking.
“As with any new system launch and the introduction of change, it will take some time for everyone to adjust, and we will continually monitor the rankings to ensure it is accurate and fair to all.”