Wednesday, 16th October, 2013
France's football federation have failed in their quest to have FIFA rethink the seeding procedure for the World Cup playoffs.
The FFF had reportedly communicated to FIFA about the fact that they were the only playoff contenders emerging out of a five-team qualifying group and therefore merited more ranking points for the lost matches.
France beat Finland 3-0 last night to claim their second place, and were hoping to be seeded for the playoffs despite the imminent FIFA rankings set to demote them below Portugal, Greece, Ukraine and Croatia.
However, a FIFA statement, published by French daily L'Equipe, has put paid to France's hopes, with the playoff draw set to be made next week in Zurich.
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"FIFA has been contacted by the French Football Federation about the rules of the competition in terms of the appointment of seeds for the draw of European playoff teams", the statement read on L'Equipe.
"However, no formal request was conveyed to us by the FFF.
"FIFA wishes to confirm that the settlement of the qualifying rounds of the FIFA World Cup cannot be changed during the competition."
The eight best runners-up from Europe's nine qualifying groups will contest the playoffs between 15th and 19th November, with Denmark the only second-placed team to miss out.
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