Nordic nations win Fair Play places

Clubs from Finland and Norway have claimed the last two UEFA Cup places for the 2007/08 campaign by virtue of the UEFA Fair Play ranking after a draw conducted between the two UEFA Cup finalists' press conferences at Hampden Park in Glasgow.

Sweden place
The two sides will join a team from Sweden in the first qualifying round as the Scandinavian country were awarded a place in the competition having finished top of the Fair Play standings. Today's draw featured the ten national associations with a coefficient equal to, or higher than, 8.0 in the ranking and included Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Wales, Switzerland, Slovakia, England and France in addition to the two winners.

UEFA assessments
The 2006/07 Fair Play competition began on 1 June 2006 and finished on 30 April this year. This competition is based on Fair Play assessments made by official UEFA delegates at all UEFA competition matches for club and national teams. The coefficient is founded on a number of criteria such as positive play, respect for the opposition, respect for the referee and behaviour of the crowd and team officials, as well as cautions and dismissals.

Domestic Fair Play
The three associations which have been allocated an extra UEFA Cup berth will be entitled to enter the club that has won their domestic top-flight Fair Play league. If this side has already qualified for the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Cup, the domestic Fair Play competition will continue to apply, so the second-placed team may be entered. If these runners-up have qualified for the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Cup, the third-placed club may be considered and so forth. Even a side that has been relegated to the domestic second division could qualify for the UEFA Cup as a result of its exemplary Fair Play conduct during the domestic championship. In any case, only teams who have received the UEFA Licence will be able to participate in the UEFA Cup.

Click here for the 2006/07 UEFA Fair Play ranking.