Sweden named UEFA's Respect Fair Play winners

PanARMENIAN.Net - UEFA's Respect Fair Play rankings, based on all UEFA competition matches played at club and national team levels from May 1, 2012 to April 30, 2013, have been won by Sweden.

Winners Sweden, second-placed Norway and third-placed Finland will each be granted one additional slot in the first qualifying round of the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League, UEFA.com said.

For the final standings, only associations that have played a minimum of 32 matches are taken into account. This cut-off point is calculated by dividing the total number of UEFA matches by the number of national associations.

The Fair Play assessments are made by the official UEFA delegates on criteria such as positive play, respect for the opposition and for the referee, behavior of the crowd and of the team officials, as well as cautions and dismissals.

The three associations allocated an additional UEFA Europa League berth will be entitled to enter the club that have won the domestic top-division fair play competition. If this club have already qualified for a UEFA competition, the second-placed team in the domestic fair play league may be entered and, should they too have already qualified, the third-placed team would be considered and so forth.

It is even possible for a side that have been relegated to qualify for the UEFA Europa League as a result of their exemplary conduct during the domestic championship. Only clubs that have received a UEFA licence will be able to participate in the UEFA Europa League.