The 'Capello Index' launched yesterday at the London Stock Exchange, by sports specialist PR agency Pitch, has been heavily criticised by the media.
The new business establishes a formula for objectively measuring a football player's performance. It creates an international player ranking system as well as providing the scoring mechanism for a new fantasy football game, the Capello XI.
In coverage of the launch in today's papers, the Daily Mail ran with the headline: 'Rank Stupidity', while The Independent featured the heading 'Fabio's first own goal'. Meanwhile, The Times said Capello had fought back against accusations of a 'PR own goal'.
Capello was forced to deny that ranking players' performances could have a potentially harmful effect on the squad's chances of success in South Africa this summer.
The launch came less than 24 hours before Capello is expected to name his provisional 30-man squad for South Africa.
Pitch was brought in to work on the account in April. The agency will handle the global launch of the Index and ongoing PR support.
