UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking

TheUEFA Respect Fair Play rankingwas used byUEFAfrom 1995 to the 2015–16 season to grant three berths for the first qualifying round of theUEFA Europa League.Since that time it has granted a monetary prize to winning associations.

Qualification system

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1995–1998

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The three highest-performing associations in the UEFA Fair Play ranking were given an extraUEFA Cupberth for the best-finishing team in their top division who have not qualified for the following season'sUEFA Champions League,UEFA Cup Winners' Cupor UEFA Cup. Which round the teams started from depended on their association'sUEFA coefficient.

1999–2008

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The highest-finishing club in the Fair Play rankings of a qualifying association, not yet participating in either the UEFA Champions League or the UEFA Cup (the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup became defunct after1998–99), were potential contenders for the three remaining berths. The club from the association which won the Fair Play ranking qualified automatically for theFirst Qualifying Roundof the UEFA Cup. The two other associations were drawn from the rest that have reached the threshold of minimum games and had a score of at least 8.0.

2009–2015

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The three highest placed national associations in the UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking each automatically gained an extra qualification berth for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League, providing they exceeded the threshold of games played, and had a minimum average score of 8.0. These berths were then allocated to the highest placed club in that association's own Fair Play league that had not yet qualified a UEFA competition.

2015–present

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Based upon a UEFA Executive Committee decision, approved in December 2014, from the 2015–16 season onwards, Fair Play no longer grants entry to the Europa League, instead only netting the victorious association a cash prize to be put towards "fair play or respect-themed projects".[1]It is assessed on three categories: overall fair play, year-on-year fair play (most improved association) and spectator behaviour, with each association being scored and an association being declared the winner for each category. No association can win more than one category, meaning that on receiving one category award, an association becomes ineligible to win either of the other two, with the three categories being ranked in importance so that it can be determined which category takes preference.

Ranking

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All representative teams from a football association are responsible for the score of the Fair Play ranking of that association. This includes matches of all national teams and all clubs in all UEFA competitions. The ranking assessment period was also changed in 2015, and is now from 1 July to 30 June the following year. For the transitional season of 2015–16, the ranking assessment period covered all matches between 1 May 2015 and 30 June 2016).[2]

Criteria

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Teams are judged on the following criteria:

  • Yellow and red cards: If no cards are shown the score will be 10. Every yellow card will deduct this total by 1. A red card will cost a team 3 points in the ranking. If the red card is the result of a second yellow card, the deductions of the second yellow card will be ignored. But if a player gets a direct red card after he got a yellow card earlier, the yellow card will be counted as a deduction. This score could become negative.
  • Positive play: e.g. attacking tactics, acceleration of the game, efforts to gain time, and continued pursuit of goals. A team can score a maximum of 10 points and a minimum of 1 point
  • Respect to the opponent: e.g. returning the ball to the opponent at a throw-in, helping an injured opponent: maximum 5 points, minimum 1 point
  • Respect to the referee: maximum 5 points, minimum 1 point
  • Behaviour of the team officials: maximum 5 points, minimum 1 point
  • Behaviour of the fans: maximum 5 points, minimum 1 point
NB: this criterion is ignored when the number of fans is negligible e.g. if there are no fans at all or because of penalty that was given by the UEFA

The total number of points are divided by the maximum number of points, 40 (or 35 if there are a negligible number of fans), and multiplied by 10 which will result in a score between 0 and 10. The score is calculated to two decimal points and not rounded up.

2014–15 final ranking

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The ranking below covers matches from 1 May 2014 to 30 April 2015 and is the final ranking.[3]

The top three associations (Netherlands, England, Republic of Ireland) gained an extra qualification berth for the2015–16 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round.[4]

Rank Member association Total points Matches played
1 Netherlands 8.151 110
2 England 8.146 160
3 Republic of Ireland 8.144 66
4 Finland 8.141 68
5 Denmark 8.128 88
6 Germany 8.123 146
7 Norway 8.113 71
8 Iceland 8.089 53
9 Sweden 8.087 110
10 Scotland 8.083 95
11 Spain 8.039 159
12 Austria 8.015 71
13 Northern Ireland 8.003 47
14 Switzerland 8.001 96
15 Belgium 7.967 107
16 France 7.960 115
17 Italy 7.953 147
18 Czech Republic 7.928 75
19 Wales 7.924 52
20 Poland 7.911 72
21 Kazakhstan 7.879 59
22 Russia 7.872 126
23 Faroe Islands 7.868 43
24 Armenia 7.864 72
25 Slovenia 7.848 71
26 Israel 7.843 55
27 Lithuania 7.824 55
28 Romania 7.811 80
29 Cyprus 7.790 69
30 Portugal 7.768 128
31 Slovakia 7.765 76
32 Croatia 7.760 86
33 Estonia 7.753 52
34 Serbia 7.749 76
35 Bosnia and Herzegovina 7.742 55
36 Hungary 7.738 68
37 Ukraine 7.700 122
38 Greece 7.694 84
39 Georgia 7.684 45
40 Belarus 7.678 83
41 Moldova 7.642 53
42 Turkey 7.615 90
43 Malta 7.600 45
44 Montenegro 7.592 44
45 Latvia 7.565 49
46 Macedonia 7.500 51
47 Azerbaijan 7.441 59
48 Albania 7.348 38
50 Gibraltar 7.809 21
51 Liechtenstein 7.767 18
52 Luxembourg 7.720 24
53 San Marino 7.485 24
54 Andorra 6.922 32

Cut-off: 37 matches played
Group 1: 37 or more matches played; Group 2: fewer than 37 matches played.

Winners (1995–2015)

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The UEFA Fair Play winners in the rankings by year since 1995 to 2015 were:

Year First association Nominated team Second association Nominated team Third association Nominated team References
1995 Norway Viking England Leeds United Luxembourg Avenir Beggen [5]
1996 Sweden Malmö Russia CSKA Moscow Finland Jazz Pori [note 1][5]
1997 Norway Brann England Aston Villa Sweden Örebro [5]
1998 England Aston Villa Finland FinnPa Norway Molde [5]
Year Top association Nominated team Drawn References
Association Nominated team Association Nominated team
1999 Scotland Kilmarnock Norway Bodø/Glimt Estonia JK Viljandi Tulevik [5]
2000 Sweden Norrköping Belgium Lierse Spain Rayo Vallecano [5]
2001 Belarus Shakhtyor Finland MYPA Slovakia Matador Púchov [5]
2002 Norway SK Brann England Ipswich Town Czech Republic Sigma Olomouc [8]
2003 England Manchester City France Lens Denmark Esbjerg [9]
2004 Sweden Öster Armenia Mika Ukraine Illichivets Mariupol [10][11][12]
2005 Norway Viking Germany Mainz 05 Denmark Esbjerg [13]
2006 Sweden Gefle Belgium Roeselare Norway Brann [14]
2007 Sweden Häcken Finland MYPA Norway Lillestrøm [15][16]
2008 England Manchester City Germany Hertha BSC Denmark Nordsjælland [17][18][19]
Year Top association Nominated team Second association Nominated team Third association Nominated team References
2009 Norway Rosenborg Denmark Randers Scotland Motherwell [20]
2010 Sweden Gefle Denmark Randers Finland MYPA(a) [21]
2011 Norway Aalesund England Fulham Sweden Häcken [22][23]
2012 Norway Stabæk Finland MYPA Netherlands Twente [24]
2013 Sweden Gefle Norway Tromsø Finland Mariehamn [25]
2014 Norway Tromsø Sweden Brommapojkarna Finland MYPA [26]
2015 Netherlands Go Ahead Eagles England West Ham United Republic of Ireland UCD [4]

Notes:

  • Teams that performed the best in a given year when compared to the other two Fair Play qualifiers, either by advancing further or earning more points, are listed initalic.
  • (a): Both Randers and MYPA made to the 3rd Qualification round however MYPA had more wins in the tournament.

Most wins

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Best performances

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The furthest that a team progressed from a fair-play entry was the quarter-finals, achieved by Aston Villa (1997–98), Rayo Vallecano (2000–01) and Manchester City (2008–09), with Manchester City being the only team to have progressed beyond the group stage since this was introduced in2004–05.[27]

Winners (since 2015–16 season)

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The UEFA Fair Play winners by category in the rankings (with updated format) are:

Season Overall fair play Best spectators Best progression Prize money Reference
2015–16 Norway Estonia Belarus €50,000 for each [28]
2016–17 Iceland Finland Georgia [29]
2017–18 Finland Faroe Islands Northern Ireland €50,000 for each [30]
2018–19 Georgia [31]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^England'sFootball Associationwere the top-ranked association for 1996 but were denied their berth (toEverton) by UEFA as punishment for member clubsTottenham HotspurandWimbledonfielding weakened teams in the1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup.[6][7]

References

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  1. ^"New Respect Fair Play reward criteria".uefa.com.16 February 2015.Retrieved19 May2015.
  2. ^"UEFA Fair Play Regulations 2015"(PDF).UEFA.org. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 5 May 2015.
  3. ^"UEFA Respect Fair Play Final Rankings 2014/15"(PDF).UEFA. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 18 May 2015.Retrieved8 May2015.
  4. ^ab"Netherlands, England, Ireland get Fair Play bonus".UEFA.com. 8 May 2015.Retrieved8 May2015.
  5. ^abcdefg"Fair Play Ranking".Bert Kasses.Retrieved14 April2011.
  6. ^"English clubs pay for Intertoto fiasco".The Independent.16 December 1995.Retrieved31 January2022.
  7. ^"FAQ: Qualification and Seeding for the European Cups".Bert Kassies.Retrieved29 September2020.
  8. ^"Norway Top Rankings".UEFA. Archived fromthe originalon 29 March 2008.Retrieved19 May2008.
  9. ^"City Reward for English Fair Play".UEFA. 3 June 2003.Retrieved22 March2011.
  10. ^"Sweden Top Fair Play Ranking".UEFA. Archived fromthe originalon June 19, 2007.Retrieved19 May2008.
  11. ^"Sweden Top Fair Play Ranking".Xinhua News Agency. 4 June 2004.Retrieved22 March2011.[dead link]
  12. ^"Söderberg seals Öster success".UEFA. 29 July 2004.Retrieved22 March2011.
  13. ^"Viking Rewarded for Fair Play".UEFA. 1 June 2005.Retrieved22 March2011.
  14. ^"Sweden Tops Fair Play Ranking"(PDF).UEFA. 1 June 2006.Archived(PDF)from the original on 2 November 2012.Retrieved19 May2008.
  15. ^"Sweden earn UEFA Cup place via Fair Play ranking"(PDF).UEFA. 9 May 2007.Archived(PDF)from the original on 6 February 2009.Retrieved19 May2008.
  16. ^"Nordic nations win Fair Play places".UEFA. 15 May 2007.Retrieved19 May2008.
  17. ^"England win Fair Play"(PDF).UEFA. 9 May 2008.Archived(PDF)from the original on 6 February 2009.Retrieved19 May2008.
  18. ^"Fair Play bonus for Germans and Danes".UEFA. 13 May 2008.Retrieved22 March2011.
  19. ^"FC Nordsjælland i UEFA Cup'en".Dansk Boldspil-Union. 25 May 2008.Retrieved25 May2008.
  20. ^"Norway confirmed as Fair Play winners".UEFA. 13 May 2009.Retrieved22 March2011.
  21. ^"Sweden top Fair Play rankings".UEFA. 10 May 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 12 May 2010.Retrieved11 May2010.
  22. ^"Fair Play bonus for Norway, England and Sweden".UEFA.16 May 2011.Retrieved22 May2011.
  23. ^"Fair Play Table | Official Site of the Premier League - Barclays Premier League News, Fixtures and Results | Matchday".Archived fromthe originalon 2007-11-13.
  24. ^"Norway wins UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking".UEFA.7 May 2012.Retrieved7 May2012.
  25. ^"Respect Fair Play bonus for Sweden, Norway, Finland".UEFA.com. 13 May 2013.
  26. ^"Norway, Sweden, Finland top Respect Fair Play table".UEFA.com. 8 May 2014.
  27. ^"UEFA Cup/Europa League Trivia".Rssf.Retrieved19 May2015.
  28. ^"Lyon to host 2018 UEFA Europa League final".UEFA. 9 December 2016.
  29. ^"Georgia's Football Federation receives special UEFA award for best progress".
  30. ^"2017/18 UEFA fair play competition winners".UEFA. 22 November 2018.
  31. ^"2018/19 UEFA fair play competition winners".UEFA. 17 January 2020.