Capello-backed online football player index and fantasy game suspended until after World Cup

Players of the game will be able to select a different set of players each match day, picking their preferred XI without limitation except for the number of players selected from each team. It is thought that sponsors of individual players, teams or events could use these measurements to build their sponsorship strategies on.

The index will aim to establish a formula to objectively measure a player’s performance by creating an international player ranking system, which takes account of every key event that occurs during the course of a match. It includes the five main European leagues and the two UEFA competitions – the Champions League and Europa cup.

This will provide the scoring mechanism for the fantasy football game, which will be called the Capello XI. Points will measure a player’s contribution from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective. The score a player’s action generates is weighted depending on a number of factors, such as the area of the pitch in which they are completed, their impact on the match and the importance of game.

WSM sponsorship director, international, David Collins says: “One of the great attributes of football and therefore a principal reason that brands choose to invest in the game is the all-consuming ’fan-dom’ and constant debate about players, strategies and performances. This new ranking from one of the games top strategists is sure to add further fuel to this particular fan passion and therefore be a valuable source of content for brands seeking to activate their sponsorship associations with the beautiful game.”

Capello says: “Everyone who follows football enjoys debating the merits of particular players. We wanted to align the existing metrics for measuring performance such as passes completed and ground covered with informed analysis of the impact and importance of a player’s contribution. Without context, we feel that the current statistics do not tell the whole story. Football provokes passion and debate, we wanted to create a system for measuring performance which fans could really relate to and would want to discuss.”