UEFA
The
Union of European Football Associations, almost always referred to by the acronym
UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European
football. It represents the national football associations of Europe, runs Europe-wide national and club competitions, and controls the prize money, regulations and media rights to those competitions. Several national football associations which are geographically in
Asia belong to UEFA rather than the
Asian Football Confederation, such as
Israel and
Kazakhstan.UEFA is one of the six continental confederations of
FIFA. Of all the confederations, it is by far the strongest in terms of wealth and influence over the global game. Virtually all of the world's top players play in European leagues because of the salaries available from the world's wealthiest football clubs, particularly in
England,
Italy,
Spain and
Germany. Many of the world's strongest national sides are in UEFA. Of the 32 available spots in the
2006 World Cup, 14 were allocated to UEFA national teams.
UEFA was founded on
June 15 1954 in
Basel,
Switzerland following discussions between the
French,
Italian and
Belgian FAs. The headquarters was in Paris until 1959 when the organisation moved to
Bern.
Henri Delaunay was the first General Secretary and Ebbe Schwartz the president. Its administrative centre since 1995 is in
Nyon,
Switzerland. It was initially made up of 25 national associations. Currently there are 53 associations (see the bottom of this page or
List of UEFA national football teams).
UEFA, as a representative of the national associations, has had a number of bruising clashes with the
European Commission. In the 1990s the issues of television rights and especially international transfers (the
Bosman ruling) have had to undergo some major changes to remain in line with European law.
Called Chief Executive since December 1999:
*
Henri Delaunay (1954 - 55)
*
Pierre Delaunay (1955 - 60)
*
Hans Bangerter (1960 - 89)
*
Gerhard Aigner (1989 - 2003)
*
Lars-Christer Olsson*
Ebbe Schwartz (1954-62)
*
Gustav Wiederkehr (1962-72)
*
Artemio Franchi (1972-83)
*
Jacques Georges (1983-90)
*
Lennart Johansson (1990-)
International
The main competition for men's national teams is the
European Football Championship, started in 1958, with the first finals in 1960, and known as the European Nations Cup until 1964. UEFA also runs national competitions at
Under-21,
Under-19 and
Under-17 levels. For women's national teams, UEFA operates the
UEFA Women's Championship for senior national sides and the
UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship at under-19 level.
UEFA also organises the
UEFA/CAF Meridian Cup with
CAF for youth teams.
In
futsal there is the
UEFA Futsal Championship.
Club
UEFA also runs the two main club competitions in Europe: the
UEFA Champions League was first held in 1955, and was known as the European Champion Clubs Cup until 1991; and the
UEFA Cup, for national knockout cup winners and high-placed league teams, was launched by UEFA in 1971 as a successor to the
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (also begun in 1955). A third competition, the
Cup Winners' Cup, started in 1960 and was absorbed into the UEFA Cup in 1999. Only four teams have
won each of the three competitions, a feat that is no longer possible for any team that did not win the Cup Winners' Cup. There are currently ten teams throughout Europe that have won two of the three trophies; of these, six require a win in the Champions League and four require a UEFA Cup win.
The
UEFA Super Cup, which pits the winners of the Champions League against the winners of the UEFA Cup (previously the winners of the Cup Winners' Cup), came into being in 1973.
The
UEFA Intertoto Cup is a summer competition, previously operated by several
Central European football associations, which was relaunched by UEFA in 1995 as a qualifying competition for the UEFA Cup. Recently, UEFA launched the
UEFA Regions Cup, for semi-professional teams. UEFA also conducts the
UEFA Women's Cup for women's club teams.
In futsal there is the
UEFA Futsal Cup.
The
European/South American Cup was jointly organised with
CONMEBOL between the
Champions League and the
Copa Libertadores winners.
Women's Qualifiers [
1]
The following UEFA members have competed in the following
FIFA World Cups. Names marked in
bold represent ocassions when a UEFA member won the tournament:
*
1930 -
Belgium,
France,
Romania,
Yugoslavia*
1934 -
Austria, Belgium,
Czechoslovakia, France,
Germany,
Hungary,
Italy,
Netherlands, Romania,
Spain,
Sweden,
Switzerland*
1938 - Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Hungary,
Italy, Netherlands,
Norway,
Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland
*
1950 -
England, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Yugoslavia
*
1954 - Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, England, France, Hungary, Italy,
Scotland, Switzerland,
Turkey,
West Germany, Yugoslavia
*
1958 - Austria, Czechoslovakia, England, France, Hungary,
Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sweden,
USSR,
Wales, West Germany, Yugoslavia
*
1962 -
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, England, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, USSR, West Germany, Yugoslavia
*
1966 - Bulgaria,
England, France, Hungary, Italy,
Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, USSR, West Germany
*
1970 - Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, England, Italy, Romania, Sweden, USSR, West Germany (plus
Israel, who qualified as member of
AFC)
*
1974 - Bulgaria,
East Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Scotland, Sweden,
West Germany, Yugoslavia
*
1978 - Austria, France, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, West Germany
*
1982 - Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, England, France, Hungary,
Italy, Northern Ireland, Poland, Scotland, Spain, USSR, West Germany, Yugoslavia
*
1986 - Belgium, Bulgaria,
Denmark, England, France, Hungary, Italy, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, USSR, West Germany
*
1990 - Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, England,
Republic of Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, USSR,
West Germany, Yugoslavia
*
1994 - Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany,
Greece, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Romania,
Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
*
1998 - Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Denmark, England,
France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Scotland, Spain,
Yugoslavia FR*
2002 - Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Russia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,
Turkey*
2006 - Croatia,
Czech Republic, England, France, Germany,
Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia and Montenegro, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden,
Ukraine;Total appearances by team (out of 18)
*16:
(incl. 10 as West Germany) *12:
*11:
*10:
Serbia (incl. 2 as Serbia and Montenegro/FR Yugoslavia, and 8 as +)
*9:
(incl. 8 as +)
(incl. 7 as +)
*8:
*7:
*4:
*3:
*2:
*1:
+
(qualified when member of AFC)
+ = team and national federation no longer exist
*NOTE: FIFA considers Germany to carry West Germany's record. The same goes for Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro and Yugoslavia; Czech Republic and Czechoslovakia; and Russia and the USSR. For purposes of these articles the latter three have been separated because they represent different peoples and areas.*UEFA Club Football Awards
*UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll
*UEFA Jubilee Awards
*UEFA Stadia List
*European football records*UEFA homepage
*UEFA European Women's Championship
*UEFA Standings
