England earn Fair Play prize

An additional English club will compete in the first qualifying round of next season's UEFA Cup after England finished top of the 2007/08 UEFA Fair Play ranking.

Seven in the running
Four English clubs will now compete in the UEFA Cup. Seven other national associations – Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Spain and France – all with a coefficient equal to, or higher than, 8.0 will go into a draw for a further two places in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup first qualifying round. The draw will be made in between the two UEFA Cup finalists' press conferences at the City of Manchester Stadium in north-west England on Tuesday 13 May, from approximately 14.30 local time.

Minimum 34 matches
The UEFA Fair Play competition for the 2007/08 season began on 1 May 2007 and finished on 30 April 2008. Only associations having played a minimum of 34 matches have been taken into account. This cut-off is defined as the total number of UEFA games divided by the number of national associations.

Fair Play assessments
The Fair Play 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 which are allocated an additional UEFA Cup place will be entitled to enter the club that has won the domestic top-division Fair Play competition. If this side 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.

Fair Play conduct
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.

To see the ranking in full, click here.