What’s an FPI? (aka Fair Play Index)

The last column in your standings table shows a metric called FPI. FPI stands for Fair Play Index and measures each team’s capability to play the game fairly.

How is it calculated? When a game official submits their match report, they are required to evaluate each team’s fair play from that match on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being very good and 1 being very poor. The Fair Play Index (FPI) column in your standings is simply the mean average of all your ratings from all your matches in the current season. Yellow cards and red cards also negatively impact a team’s rating.

Why is this measured? BAS has been using this measure for over 20 years to identify teams that consistently or chronically behave poorly in their soccer matches. Any team can have an “off” match, but if issues with fair play are ongoing, we want to know about it so it can be addressed. No one wants to play against “that team,” and equally important, no referee wants to officiate them.

“But the ref’s out to get us?” No. The overwhelming majority of BAS matches end with a fair play index rating of 5 or 4. If the game official gives a rating below that without any explanation or any cards, they are asked to explain why the rating was so low or asked to adjust it accordingly.

Why should you care? If your team’s FPI drops below a defined threshold and remains there at the end of the season, your team will not be permitted to participate in the postseason (playoffs and Cup). This will be strictly enforced.

What is this threshold? In the example above, you can see the threshold in the bottom right at 2.68. This is the mean average at any given moment of all the teams’ FPI ratings multiplied by 0.7, so from the standings above: ((4.00 + 3.33 + 4.00 + 4.00) / 4) x 0.7. In other words, as defined in your published rules:

Any team with a Fair Play Index that is less than 70% of the division average will be ineligible for the postseason, with subsequent play in future sessions under review.

What can you do if your FPI is below the threshold? Your team reps will receive an email at the midpoint of the season if your team’s Fair Play Index (FPI) is below your division’s threshold. They will be asked to address this. How they do that is up each team, but the consequences of doing nothing are clearly defined. There are two teams who aren’t playing this year because of their FPI last year.