Fair Play bonus for Germans and Danes

Germany and Denmark have earned places in the first qualifying round of next season's UEFA Cup thanks to their associations' placing in UEFA's final Fair Play rankings for the 2007/08 season.

Manchester draw
The two associations join an additional English club in the first qualifying round of next season's UEFA Cup after a draw at the City of Manchester Stadium in north-west England - the venue for Wednesday's final between FC Zenit St. Petersburg and Rangers FC. The draw was made by Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor and Zenit striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, who are absent from the final through injury and suspension respectively.

Automatic place to England
England automatically gained an extra UEFA Cup place after finishing top of the 2007/08 UEFA Fair Play ranking. Seven other national associations - Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Spain and France - all with a coefficient equal to, or higher than, 8.0 went into the draw for the other two places.

Fair Play assessments
The UEFA Fair Play competition for the 2007/08 season began on 1 May 2007 and finished on 30 April 2008. The competition is based on the Fair Play assessments made by official UEFA delegates at all UEFA competition matches (club and national teams). The coefficient is based on criteria such as positive play, respect of the opponent, respect of the referee, behaviour of the crowd and of team officials, as well as cautions and dismissals.

Domestic Fair Play winners
The three associations who have won an extra UEFA Cup slot are entitled to enter the club that has won the domestic top-division Fair Play competition. If this team has already qualified for the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Cup, the domestic Fair Play competition will continue to apply, and the second-placed team may be entered. If the second-placed side has qualified for the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Cup, the third-placed team in the domestic Fair Play tournament may be considered, and so forth.

Relegated clubs
Even a club which has been relegated to the second-highest domestic division could qualify for the UEFA Cup as a result of its exemplary Fair Play conduct during the domestic championship. In any case, only sides which have received the UEFA Licence will be able to participate in the UEFA Cup.