UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking

Football culture aspect under UEFA leagues body

The UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking was used by UEFA from 1995 to the 2015–16 season to grant three berths for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. Since that time it has granted a monetary prize to winning associations.

Qualification system

1995–1998

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

1999–2008

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 after 1998–99), were potential contenders for the three remaining berths. The club from the association which won the Fair Play ranking qualified automatically for the First Qualifying Round of 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

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

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

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

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

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 the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round.[4]

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

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 Norway Viking England England Leeds United Luxembourg Luxembourg Avenir Beggen [5]
1996 Sweden Sweden Malmö Russia Russia CSKA Moscow Finland Finland Jazz Pori [note 1][5]
1997 Norway Norway Brann England England Aston Villa Sweden Sweden Örebro [5]
1998 England England Aston Villa Finland Finland FinnPa Norway Norway Molde [5]
Year Top association Nominated team Drawn References
Association Nominated team Association Nominated team
1999 Scotland Scotland Kilmarnock Norway Norway Bodø/Glimt Estonia Estonia JK Viljandi Tulevik [5]
2000 Sweden Sweden Norrköping Belgium Belgium Lierse Spain Spain Rayo Vallecano [5]
2001 Belarus Belarus Shakhtyor Finland Finland MYPA Slovakia Slovakia Matador Púchov [5]
2002 Norway Norway SK Brann England England Ipswich Town Czech Republic Czech Republic Sigma Olomouc [8]
2003 England England Manchester City France France Lens Denmark Denmark Esbjerg [9]
2004 Sweden Sweden Öster Armenia Armenia Mika Ukraine Ukraine Illichivets Mariupol [10][11][12]
2005 Norway Norway Viking Germany Germany Mainz 05 Denmark Denmark Esbjerg [13]
2006 Sweden Sweden Gefle Belgium Belgium Roeselare Norway Norway Brann [14]
2007 Sweden Sweden Häcken Finland Finland MYPA Norway Norway Lillestrøm [15][16]
2008 England England Manchester City Germany Germany Hertha BSC Denmark Denmark Nordsjælland [17][18][19]
Year Top association Nominated team Second association Nominated team Third association Nominated team References
2009 Norway Norway Rosenborg Denmark Denmark Randers Scotland Scotland Motherwell [20]
2010 Sweden Sweden Gefle Denmark Denmark Randers Finland Finland MYPA (a) [21]
2011 Norway Norway Aalesund England England Fulham Sweden Sweden Häcken [22][23]
2012 Norway Norway Stabæk Finland Finland MYPA Netherlands Netherlands Twente [24]
2013 Sweden Sweden Gefle Norway Norway Tromsø Finland Finland Mariehamn [25]
2014 Norway Norway Tromsø Sweden Sweden Brommapojkarna Finland Finland MYPA [26]
2015 Netherlands Netherlands Go Ahead Eagles England England West Ham United Republic of Ireland 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 in italic.
  • (a): Both Randers and MYPA made to the 3rd Qualification round however MYPA had more wins in the tournament.

Most wins

By association

Rank Association 1st 2nd 3rd
1 Norway Norway 8 2 3
2 Sweden Sweden 7 1 2
3 England England 3 5 0
4 Netherlands Netherlands 1 0 1
Scotland Scotland 1 0 1
6 Belarus Belarus 1 0 0
7 Finland Finland 0 4 4
8 Denmark Denmark 0 2 3
9 Belgium Belgium 0 2 0
Germany Germany 0 2 0
11 Armenia Armenia 0 1 0
France France 0 1 0
Russia Russia 0 1 0
14 Czech Republic Czech Republic 0 0 1
Estonia Estonia 0 0 1
Luxembourg Luxembourg 0 0 1
Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland 0 0 1
Slovakia Slovakia 0 0 1
Spain Spain 0 0 1
Ukraine Ukraine 0 0 1
Total 21 21 21


By team

Rank Team 1st 2nd 3rd
1 Sweden Gefle 3 0 0
2 Norway Brann 2 0 1
3 England Manchester City 2 0 0
Norway Viking 2 0 0
5 Norway Tromsø 1 1 0
6 England Aston Villa 1 1 0
7 Sweden Häcken 1 0 1
Sweden Malmö 1 0 0
Scotland Kilmarnock 1 0 0
Sweden Norrköping 1 0 0
Belarus Shakhtyor 1 0 0
Sweden Öster 1 0 0
Norway Rosenborg 1 0 0
Norway Aalesund 1 0 0
Norway Stabæk 1 0 0
Netherlands Go Ahead Eagles 1 0 0
17 Finland MYPA 0 3 2
18 Denmark Randers 0 2 0

Best performances

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 in 2004–05.[27]

Winners (since 2015–16 season)

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 Norway Estonia Estonia Belarus Belarus €50,000 for each [28]
2016–17 Iceland Iceland Finland Finland Georgia (country) Georgia [29]
2017–18 Finland Finland Faroe Islands Faroe Islands Northern Ireland Northern Ireland €50,000 for each [30]
2018–19 Georgia (country) Georgia [31]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ England's Football Association were the top-ranked association for 1996 but were denied their berth (to Everton) by UEFA as punishment for member clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Wimbledon fielding weakened teams in the 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup.[6][7]

References

  1. ^ "New Respect Fair Play reward criteria". uefa.com. 16 February 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  2. ^ "UEFA Fair Play Regulations 2015" (PDF). UEFA.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2015.
  3. ^ "UEFA Respect Fair Play Final Rankings 2014/15" (PDF). UEFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Netherlands, England, Ireland get Fair Play bonus". UEFA.com. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Fair Play Ranking". Bert Kasses. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  6. ^ "English clubs pay for Intertoto fiasco". The Independent. 16 December 1995. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  7. ^ "FAQ: Qualification and Seeding for the European Cups". Bert Kassies. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Norway Top Rankings". UEFA. Archived from the original on 29 March 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
  9. ^ "City Reward for English Fair Play". UEFA. 3 June 2003. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  10. ^ "Sweden Top Fair Play Ranking". UEFA. Archived from the original on June 19, 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
  11. ^ "Sweden Top Fair Play Ranking". Xinhua News Agency. 4 June 2004. Retrieved 22 March 2011.[dead link]
  12. ^ "Söderberg seals Öster success". UEFA. 29 July 2004. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  13. ^ "Viking Rewarded for Fair Play". UEFA. 1 June 2005. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  14. ^ "Sweden Tops Fair Play Ranking" (PDF). UEFA. 1 June 2006. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
  15. ^ "Sweden earn UEFA Cup place via Fair Play ranking" (PDF). UEFA. 9 May 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
  16. ^ "Nordic nations win Fair Play places". UEFA. 15 May 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
  17. ^ "England win Fair Play" (PDF). UEFA. 9 May 2008. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
  18. ^ "Fair Play bonus for Germans and Danes". UEFA. 13 May 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  19. ^ "FC Nordsjælland i UEFA Cup'en". Dansk Boldspil-Union. 25 May 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  20. ^ "Norway confirmed as Fair Play winners". UEFA. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  21. ^ "Sweden top Fair Play rankings". UEFA. 10 May 2010. Archived from the original on 12 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  22. ^ "Fair Play bonus for Norway, England and Sweden". UEFA. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
  23. ^ "Fair Play Table | Official Site of the Premier League - Barclays Premier League News, Fixtures and Results | Matchday". Archived from the original on 2007-11-13.
  24. ^ "Norway wins UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking". UEFA. 7 May 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  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. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  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.
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