Barcelona

FIFA refuse to ratify Lionel Messi record

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 14 December 2012

FIFA refuse to confirm that Lionel Messi holds the record for the amount of goals in a calendar year after claims from the Zambian FA that Godfrey Chitaly scored 107 goals in 1972.

FIFA have refused to enter the debate regarding Lionel Messi's alleged record number of goals in a calendar year.

Messi scored his 86th goal of 2012 on Sunday, surpassing Gerd Muller's tally of 85 set in 1972, previously thought to be the highest number in football history.

However, the Zambian FA claim that Godfrey Chitalu scored 107 goals for club and country in the same year that Muller recorded his most prolific season.

FIFA have remained impartial on the issue, saying that a lack of official domestic records means that they cannot ratify either claim.

"We don't have a database which details every football game played in every country from around the world since day one of their formation," FIFA spokesman Alex Stone told BBC Sport.

"It's certainly nothing to do with bias - if we can confirm records from our tournaments we like doing that. It's the sort of data fans and the media like to see.

"It's a record where someone in the media obviously collected statistics from somewhere and noticed Messi was about to pass that record."

Messi has since extended his tally to 88 goals with two matches still to play this year.