UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking explained

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:

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]

RankMember associationTotal pointsMatches played
1 Netherlands8.151110
2 England8.146160
3 Republic of Ireland8.14466
4 Finland8.14168
5 Denmark8.12888
6 Germany8.123146
7 Norway8.11371
8 Iceland8.08953
9 Sweden8.087110
10 Scotland8.08395
11 Spain8.039159
12 Austria8.01571
13 Northern Ireland8.00347
14 Switzerland8.00196
15 Belgium7.967107
16 France7.960115
17 Italy7.953147
18 Czech Republic7.92875
19 Wales7.92452
20 Poland7.91172
21 Kazakhstan7.87959
22 Russia7.872126
23 Faroe Islands7.86843
24 Armenia7.86472
25 Slovenia7.84871
26 Israel7.84355
27 Lithuania7.82455
28 Romania7.81180
29 Cyprus7.79069
30 Portugal7.768128
31 Slovakia7.76576
32 Croatia7.76086
33 Estonia7.75352
34 Serbia7.74976
35 Bosnia and Herzegovina7.74255
36 Hungary7.73868
37 Ukraine7.700122
38 Greece7.69484
39 Georgia7.68445
40 Belarus7.67883
41 Moldova7.64253
42 Turkey7.61590
43 Malta7.60045
44 Montenegro7.59244
45 Latvia7.56549
46 Macedonia7.50051
47 Azerbaijan7.44159
48 Albania7.34838
50 Gibraltar7.80921
51 Liechtenstein7.76718
52 Luxembourg7.72024
53 San Marino7.48524
54 Andorra6.92232

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:

YearFirst associationNominated teamSecond associationNominated teamThird associationNominated teamReferences
1995 Norway EnglandLeeds United Luxembourg [5]
1996 Sweden Russia CSKA Moscow Finland
1997 Norway EnglandAston Villa Sweden
1998 EnglandAston Villa Finland Norway
YearTop associationNominated teamDrawnReferences
AssociationNominated teamAssociationNominated team
1999 Scotland Norway Bodø/Glimt Estonia
2000 Sweden Belgium Spain Rayo Vallecano
2001 Belarus Finland Slovakia Matador Púchov
2002 Norway EnglandIpswich Town Czech Republic [6]
2003 England Manchester City France Denmark [7]
2004 Sweden Öster Armenia Mika Ukraine [8] [9] [10]
2005 Norway Viking Germany Mainz 05 Denmark[11]
2006 Sweden BelgiumRoeselare Norway [12]
2007 Sweden Häcken Finland Norway [13] [14]
2008 England Manchester City Germany Denmark [15] [16] [17]
YearTop associationNominated teamSecond associationNominated teamThird associationNominated teamReferences
2009 Norway Denmark Randers Scotland[18]
2010 Sweden Denmark FinlandMYPA (a) [19]
2011 Norway EnglandFulham Sweden [20] [21]
2012 Norway Finland Netherlands Twente [22]
2013 Sweden Norway Tromsø Finland[23]
2014 Norway Sweden Brommapojkarna Finland[24]
2015 Netherlands England West Ham United Republic of Ireland

Notes:

Most wins

By association

RankAssociation1st2nd3rd
1 Norway823
2 Sweden712
3 England350
4 Netherlands101
Scotland101
6 Belarus100
7 Finland044
8 Denmark023
9 Belgium020
Germany020
11 Armenia010
France010
Russia010
14 Czech Republic001
Estonia001
Luxembourg001
Republic of Ireland001
Slovakia001
Spain001
Ukraine001
Total 21 21 21

By team

RankTeam1st2nd3rd
1 Gefle300
2 Brann201
3 Manchester City200
Viking200
5 Tromsø110
6 Aston Villa110
7 Häcken101
Malmö100
Kilmarnock100
Norrköping100
Shakhtyor100
Öster100
Rosenborg100
Aalesund100
Stabæk100
Go Ahead Eagles100
17 MYPA032
18 Randers020

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.[25]

Winners (since 2015–16 season)

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

SeasonOverall fair playBest spectatorsBest progressionPrize moneyReference
2015–16 Norway Estonia Belarus€50,000 for each[26]
2016–17 Iceland Finland Georgia[27]
2017–18 Finland Faroe Islands Northern Ireland€50,000 for each[28]
2018–19 Georgia[29]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: New Respect Fair Play reward criteria . uefa.com . 16 February 2015 . 19 May 2015 .
  2. Web site: UEFA Fair Play Regulations 2015. UEFA.org. https://web.archive.org/web/20150505040604/http://www.uefa.org/MultimediaFiles/Download/uefaorg/Respect/02/24/29/20/2242920_DOWNLOAD.pdf. 5 May 2015. dead.
  3. Web site: UEFA Respect Fair Play Final Rankings 2014/15. UEFA . 8 May 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150518095128/http://www.uefa.org/MultimediaFiles/Download/uefaorg/Respect/02/24/41/72/2244172_DOWNLOAD.pdf . 18 May 2015 . dead .
  4. Web site: Netherlands, England, Ireland get Fair Play bonus. UEFA.com. 8 May 2015. 8 May 2015.
  5. Web site: Fair Play Ranking . Bert Kasses. 14 April 2011.
  6. News: Norway Top Rankings . UEFA. 19 May 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080329142153/http://www.uefa.com/uefa/News/Kind=16384/newsId=24832.html . 29 March 2008.
  7. News: City Reward for English Fair Play . UEFA. 3 June 2003. 22 March 2011.
  8. News: Sweden Top Fair Play Ranking . UEFA . 19 May 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070619023804/http://www.uefa.com/uefa/news/Kind=16384/newsId=186477.html . June 19, 2007 .
  9. News: Sweden Top Fair Play Ranking . Xinhua News Agency. 4 June 2004. 22 March 2011.
  10. News: 29 July 2004. Söderberg seals Öster success. UEFA. 22 March 2011.
  11. News: Viking Rewarded for Fair Play . UEFA. 1 June 2005. 22 March 2011.
  12. News: Sweden Tops Fair Play Ranking . UEFA. 1 June 2006. 19 May 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20121102075711/http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/426732.pdf. 2 November 2012. live.
  13. News: Sweden earn UEFA Cup place via Fair Play ranking. UEFA. 9 May 2007. 19 May 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20090206125845/http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/536640.pdf. 6 February 2009. live.
  14. News: Nordic nations win Fair Play places . UEFA. 15 May 2007. 19 May 2008.
  15. News: England win Fair Play . UEFA. 9 May 2008. 19 May 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20090206125838/http://www.uefa.com/multimediafiles/download/pressrelease/uefa/uefamedia/69/37/88/693788_download.pdf. 6 February 2009. live.
  16. News: Fair Play bonus for Germans and Danes. UEFA. 13 May 2008. 22 March 2011.
  17. News: FC Nordsjælland i UEFA Cup'en. Dansk Boldspil-Union. 25 May 2008. 25 May 2008.
  18. News: 13 May 2009. Norway confirmed as Fair Play winners. UEFA. 22 March 2011.
  19. News: Sweden top Fair Play rankings. UEFA. 10 May 2010. 11 May 2010. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100512213153/http://en.uefa.com/uefa/socialresponsibility/respect/news/newsid=1486635.html. 12 May 2010.
  20. News: Fair Play bonus for Norway, England and Sweden. 16 May 2011. 22 May 2011. UEFA.
  21. Web site: Fair Play Table Official Site of the Premier League - Barclays Premier League News, Fixtures and Results Matchday. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071113215619/http://www.premierleague.com/page/FairPlayTable/0,,12306,00.html . 2007-11-13 .
  22. News: 7 May 2012. Norway wins UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking. UEFA. 7 May 2012.
  23. Web site: Respect Fair Play bonus for Sweden, Norway, Finland. UEFA.com. 13 May 2013.
  24. Web site: Norway, Sweden, Finland top Respect Fair Play table. UEFA.com. 8 May 2014.
  25. Web site: UEFA Cup/Europa League Trivia. Rssf. 19 May 2015.
  26. Web site: Lyon to host 2018 UEFA Europa League final. UEFA. 9 December 2016.
  27. Web site: Georgia's Football Federation receives special UEFA award for best progress.
  28. Web site: 2017/18 UEFA fair play competition winners. UEFA. 22 November 2018.
  29. Web site: 2018/19 UEFA fair play competition winners. UEFA. 17 January 2020.