England boss Fabio Capello stuns FA with plan to rate stars online during World Cup in South Africa

By Matt Lawton Chief Football Correspondent

Rank stupidity: Fabio Capello launches the controversial Capello Index, which he will measure players performances during the World Cup, at the London Stock Exchange


Fabio Capello has scored the first own goal of his England tenure after launching a private commercial venture that will rate his players' performances online within two hours of every World Cup match.

The 'Capello Index', launched by the England manager at the London Stock Exchange just 24 hours before he names his provisional 30-man squad for South Africa on Tuesday, will mark players out of 100 based on computer analysis devised by the Italian over the last two years.

It puts England's players in the extraordinary position of being publicly rated by their manager during the tournament. In fact, every player in the World Cup will know how Capello's index has rated them.

On Monday night, senior FA officials were privately stunned and nervously bracing themselves for the inevitable backlash, not least because the Capello Index company, of which their manager is a partner, is backed by a gaming firm

Chicco Merighi, the chief executive and co-founder with Capello of the Capello Index, is also the president and founder of Goalventures Limited, described in Monday's press release as a company investing in 'sports media and gambling'.

At first Capello seemed baffled by the reaction at Monday's launch.

'It's not only for money,' he said in trying to defend his position.

'It is for the fans. Because of my interest in football.'


Cashing in: Capello is hoping to coin it with his online Index that rates World Cup players

But when England meet the USA in Rustenburg on June 12, every player from Rio Ferdinand to Wayne Rooney will be able to see how they have been ranked by their manager. Not just against each other but against the opposition.

Capello insisted there was more to selecting and rating a player than statistical analysis.

'There is also the psychology,' he said.

But he then admitted he will use his index as a tool during the tournament.
'I use all the indexes,' he said.

source: dailymail