Uefa

UEFA

Abbreviation	UEFA
Formation	15 June 1954 (1954-06-15)
Type	Sports organisation
Headquarters	Nyon, Switzerland
Coordinates
Region served	Europe
Membership	54 full member associations
Official language	English, French, German
President	Michel Platini[1]
Vice-president	Şenes Erzik[1]
General secretary	Gianni Infantino[2]
Honorary President	Lennart Johansson[1]
Main organ	UEFA Congress
Parent organization	FIFA
Website	www.UEFA.com

The Union of European Football Associations (French: Union des associations européennes de football,^[3][4] mostly referred to by its acronym, UEFA ( )), is the administrative body for association football in Europe and part of Asia. It is one of six continental confederations of world football's governing body FIFA. UEFA consists of 54 national association members.

UEFA represents the national football associations of Europe, runs nation and club competitions including the UEFA European Championship, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Super Cup, and controls the prize money, regulations, and media rights to those competitions.

Until 1959 the main headquarters were located in Paris, and later in Bern. In 1995, UEFA headquarters transferred to Nyon, Switzerland. Henri Delaunay was the first general secretary and Ebbe Schwartz the first president. The current president is Michel Platini.

History and membership

Henri Delaunay, the first general secretary of UEFA

UEFA was founded on 15 June 1954 in Basel, Switzerland after consultation between the Italian, French, and Belgian associations. Initially, the European football union consisted of 25 members which number doubled by the early 1990s. UEFA membership coincides for the most part with recognition as a sovereign country in Europe, although there some exceptions. Some micro states, (e.g. the Vatican City) are not members. Some UEFA members are not sovereign states, but form part of a larger recognised sovereign state in the context of international law. Examples include England and Scotland, (part of the United Kingdom) or the Faroe Islands, (part of Denmark) however in the context of these countries government functions concerning sport tend to be carried at the territorial level coterminous with the UEFA member entity. Some UEFA members are transcontinental states, (e.g. Turkey and Russia). Several Asian countries were also admitted to the European football association, particularly Israel and Kazakhstan, which had been members of the Asian football association. Additionally some UEFA member associations allow teams from outside their association's main territory to take part in their "domestic" competition. Monaco, for example, takes part in the French League (though a separate sovereign entity); Welsh clubs Cardiff City and Swansea City participate in the English League; Berwick Rangers, situated in England, play in the Scottish Professional Football League and Derry City, situated in Northern Ireland, play in the Republic of Ireland-based League of Ireland.

Members

Notes

Former members

• Saarland Football Union 1954–1956
• German football association of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) 1954–1990
• Football Federation of the Soviet Union 1954–1991, in 1992 became Russian Football Union. The newly independent 14 Soviet Republics created their own football associations, and they all became members of FIFA and UEFA or AFC.
• Football Association of Yugoslavia 1954–1992, became Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia became independent and created their own football associations.
• Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro 1992–2006, became Football Association of Serbia. Montenegro, which became independent, created its own football association.

Competitions

UEFA runs official international competitions in Europe and some countries of Northern, Southwestern and Central regions of Asia for national teams and professional clubs, known as UEFA competitions, some of which are regarded as the world's most prestigious tournaments.

International

The main competition for men's national teams is the UEFA European Football Championship, started in 1958, with the first finals in 1960, and known as the European Nations Cup until 1964. It is also called UEFA or the EURO. 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 as well as Women's Under-19 and Women's Under-17 Championships.

UEFA also organized the UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup with CAF for youth teams in an effort to boost youth soccer. UEFA launched the UEFA Regions' Cup, for semi-professional teams representing their local region, in 1999. In futsal there is the UEFA Futsal Championship and UEFA Futsal Under-21 Championship.

The Italian, German, Spanish and French men's national teams are the sole teams to have won the European football championship in all categories.

Club

UEFA member countries by club competition entry entitlements, 2007/8

The top-ranked UEFA competition is the UEFA Champions League, which started in the 1992/93 season and gathers the top 1–4 teams of each country's league (the number of teams depend on that country's ranking and can be upgraded or downgraded); this competition was re-structured from a previous one that only gathered the top team of each country (held from 1955–92 and known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or simply the European Cup).

A second, lower-ranked competition is the UEFA Europa League. This competition, for national knockout cup winners and high-placed league teams, was launched by UEFA in 1971 as a successor of both the former UEFA Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (also begun in 1955). A third competition, the Cup Winners' Cup, which had started in 1960, was absorbed into the UEFA Cup (now UEFA Europa League) in 1999.

In women's football UEFA also conducts the UEFA Women's Champions League for club teams. The competition was first held in 2001, and known as the UEFA Women's Cup until 2009.

The UEFA Super Cup pits the winners of the Champions League against the winners of the UEFA Europa League (previously the winners of the Cup Winners' Cup), and came into being in 1973.^[5][6][7]

The UEFA Intertoto Cup was a summer competition, previously operated by several Central European football associations, which was relaunched and recognized as official UEFA club competition by UEFA in 1995.^[8] The last Intertoto Cup took place in 2008.

The CONMEBOL between the Champions League and the Copa Libertadores winners.^[9]

Only four teams^[10][11] (Juventus, Ajax, Bayern Munich and Chelsea^[12]) have won each of the three main competitions (European Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winner's Cup and UEFA Cup/Europa League),^[13] a feat that is no longer possible for any team that did not win the Cup Winners' Cup. There are currently nine teams throughout Europe that have won two of the three trophies; all but one have won the Cup Winners Cup, four require a win in the Champions League and five require a UEFA Europa League win.

Juventus of Italy was the first team in Europe—remaining the only one to date (2013)—to win all UEFA's official championships and cups^[14] and, in commemoration of achieving that feat, have received The UEFA Plaque by the Union of European Football Associations on 12 July 1988.^[15][16]

UEFA's premier futsal competition is the UEFA Futsal Cup, a tournament started in 2001 which replaced the former Futsal European Clubs Championship. This event, despite enjoying a long and well-established tradition in the European futsal community, dating back to 1984, was never recognized as official by UEFA.

Sponsors

The UEFA Champions League current main sponsors are:

• Nissan^[17]
• Gazprom^[18]
• Heineken (excluding France, Kazakhstan, Russia, Slovenia, and Turkey, where alcohol sponsorship is restricted. In France, Switzerland and some parts of Spain, the Heineken hoarding is replaced by an "Enjoy responsibly" or "open your world" hoarding, and in Kazakhstan and Russia, the Heineken hoarding is replaced by a "Respect" hoarding.)
• MasterCard
• Sony Computer Entertainment Europe^[19]
  • PlayStation is the brand advertised.
• UniCredit^[20]
• HTC^[21]

The UEFA Europa League current main sponsors are:

• Hankook,^[22]
• Western Union^[23]
• Socar
• HTC.^[21]

Adidas is a secondary sponsor and supplies the official match ball and referee uniform for all UEFA competitions. Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer is also a secondary sponsor as the official Champions League video game.

League revenues

Annual revenue comparison. All figures in Euros.

World Cup participation and results

Legend

• 1st – Champion
• 2nd – Runner-up
•  3rd  – Third Place^{[wc 1]}
• 4th – Fourth place
• QF – Quarterfinals
• R16 – Round of 16 (since 1986: knockout round of 16)
• R2 – Second round (for the 1974, 1978, and 1982 tournaments, which had two group stages)
• GS – Group Stage (in the 1950, 1974, 1978, and 1982 tournaments, which had two group stages, this refers to the first group stage)
• 1S – First Knockout Stage (1934–1938 Single-elimination tournament)
•  •  — Did not qualify
•  ×  — Did not enter / Withdrew / Banned
•     — Hosts

Men

Team	1930 (13)	1934 (16)	1938 (15)	1950 (13)	1954 (16)	1958 (16)	1962 (16)	1966 (16)	1970 (16)	1974 (16)	1978 (16)	1982 (24)	1986 (24)	1990 (24)	1994 (24)	1998 (32)	2002 (32)	2006 (32)	2010 (32)	2014 (32)
Austria	×	4th	••[wc 2]	×	3rd	R1 15th	×	•	•	•	R2 7th	R2 8th	•	R1 T-18th	•	R1 23rd	•	•	•	•
Belgium	R1 11th	R1 15th	R1 13th	×	R1 12th	•	•	•	R1 T-10th	•	•	R2 10th	4th	R2 11th	R16 11th	R1 19th	R2 14th	•	•	QF 6th
Bosnia-Herzegovina	Part of Yugoslavia														×	•	•	•	•	GS 20th
Bulgaria	×	•	•	×	•	•	R1 15th	R1 15th	R1 13th	R1 12th	•	•	R2 15th	•	4th	R1 29th	•	•	•	•
Croatia	Part of Yugoslavia														×	3rd	R1 23rd	R1 22nd	•	GS 19th
Czechoslovakia[wc 3]	see Czech Republic (1930–1994)
Czech Republic[wc 3]	×	2nd	QF 5th	×	R1 14th	R1 9th	2nd	•	R1 15th	•	•	R1 19th	•	QF 6th	•	•	•	R1 20th	•	•
Denmark	×	×	×	×	×	•	×	•	•	•	•	•	R2 9th	•	•	QF 8th	R2 10th	•	R1 24th	•
East Germany[wc 3]	Part of Germany			×	×	•	•	•	•	R2 6th	•	•	•	•	Part of Germany
England	×	×	×	R1 8th	QF 6th	R1 11th	QF 8th	1st	QF 8th	•	•	R2 6th	QF 8th	4th	•	R2 9th	QF 6th	QF 7th	R2 13th	GS 26th
France	R1 7th	R1 T-9th	QF 6th	•	R1 11th	3rd	•	R1 T-13th	•	•	R1 12th	4th	3rd	•	•	1st	R1 28th	2nd	R1 29th	QF 7th
Germany[wc 3]	×	3rd	R1 10th	×	1st	4th	QF 7th	2nd	3rd	1st	R2 6th	2nd	2nd	1st	QF 5th	QF 7th	2nd	3rd	3rd	1st
Greece	×	•	•	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	R1 24th	•	•	•	R1 25th	R16 13th
Gibraltar	see England (1930–2014)
Hungary	×	QF 6th	2nd	×	2nd	R1 10th	QF 5th	QF 6th	•	•	R1 15th	R1 14th	R1 18th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Israel[wc 4]	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	R1 12th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Italy	×	1st	1st	R1 7th	R1 10th	•	R1 9th	R1 9th	2nd	R1 10th	4th	1st	R2 12th	3rd	2nd	QF 5th	R2 15th	1st	R1 26th	GS 22nd
Netherlands	×	R1 T-9th	R1 14th	×	×	•	•	•	•	2nd	2nd	•	•	R2 15th	QF 7th	4th	•	R2 11th	2nd	3rd
Northern Ireland	×	×	×	•	•	QF 8th	•	•	•	•	•	R2 9th	R1 21st	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Norway	×	×	R1 12th	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	R1 17th	R2 15th	•	•	•	•
Poland	×	•	R1 11th	×	×	•	•	•	•	3rd	R2 5th	3rd	R2 14th	•	•	•	R1 25th	R1 21st	•	•
Portugal	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	3rd	•	•	•	•	R1 17th	•	•	•	R1 21st	4th	R2 11th	GS 18th
Republic of Ireland[wc 5]	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	QF 8th	R2 16th	•	R2 12th	•	•	•
Romania	R1 8th	R1 12th	R1 9th	×	•	•	•	•	R1 T-10th	•	•	•	•	R2 12th	QF 6th	R2 11th	•	•	•	•
Russia[wc 6]						QF 7th	QF 6th	4th	QF 5th	•	•	R2 7th	R2 10th	R1 17th	R1 18th	•	R1 22nd	•	•	GS 24th
Saar	Part of Germany			×	•	Part of Germany
Scotland	×	×	×	••	R1 15th	R1 14th	•	•	•	R1 9th	R1 11th	R1 15th	R1 19th	R1 T-18th	•	R1 27th	•	•	•	•
Serbia[wc 3]	4th[wc 7]	•	•	R1 5th	QF 7th	QF 5th	4th	•	•	R2 7th	•	R1 16th	•	QF 5th	×	R2 10th	•	R1 32nd	R1 23rd	•
Serbia and Montenegro[wc 3]	see Serbia (2006)
Slovakia	Part of Czechoslovakia															•	•	•	R2 16th	•
Slovenia	Part of Yugoslavia														×	•	R1 30th	•	R1 18th	•
Soviet Union[wc 6]	see Russia (1930–1990)
Spain	×	QF 5th	×	4th	•	•	R1 12th	R1 10th	•	•	R1 10th	R2 12th	QF 7th	R2 10th	QF 8th	R1 17th	QF 5th	R2 9th	1st	GS 23rd
Sweden	×	QF 8th	4th	3rd	•	2nd	•	•	R1 9th	R2 5th	R1 13th	•	•	R1 21st	3rd	•	R2 13th	R2 14th	•	•
Switzerland	×	QF 7th	QF 7th	R1 6th	QF 8th	•	R1 16th	R1 16th	•	•	•	•	•	•	R2 15th	•	•	R2 10th	R1 19th	R16 11th
Turkey	×	×	×	••	R1 9th	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	3rd	•	•	•
Ukraine[wc 6]	Part of Soviet Union														×	•	•	QF 8th	•	•
Wales	×	×	×	•	•	QF 6th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
West Germany[wc 3]	see Germany (1950–1990)
Yugoslavia[wc 3]	see Serbia (1930 for Kingdom of Yugoslavia; 1950–1990 for SFR Yugoslavia; 1994–2002 for FR Yugoslavia)

Notes

Women

Team	1991 (12)	1995 (12)	1999 (16)	2003 (16)	2007 (16)	2011 (16)	2015 (24)
Denmark	QF 7th	QF 7th	R2 15th	•	R2 12th	•	•
England	•	QF 6th	•	•	QF 7th	QF 7th	q
France	•	•	•	R2 9th	•	4th	q
Germany	4th	2nd	QF 8th	1st	1st	QF 6th	q
Italy	QF 6th	•	R2 9th	•	•	•
Netherlands	•	•	•	•	•	•	q
Norway	2nd	1st	4th	QF 7th	4th	R2 10th	q
Russia	×	•	QF 5th	QF 8th	•	•	•
Spain	•	•	•	•	•	•	q
Sweden	3rd	QF 5th	QF 6th	2nd	R2 10–11	3rd	q
Switzerland	•	•	•	•	•	•	q

FIFA Confederations Cup

Legend

• 1st – Champions
• 2nd – Runners-up
• 3rd – Third place
• 4th – Fourth place
• GS – Group stage
•  ••  — Qualified / Invited, but declined to take part
•  •  — Did not qualify
•  ×  — Did not enter / Withdrew from continental championship / Confederation did not take part
• Q — Qualified for upcoming tournament
•    — Hosts

Team	1992 (4)	1995 (6)	1997 (8)	1999 (8)	2001 (8)	2003 (8)	2005 (8)	2009 (8)	2013 (8)	2017 (8)
Czech Republic	×	×	3rd	•	•	•	•	•	•
Denmark	×	1st	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
France	×	•	•	••	1st	1st	•	•	•
Germany	×	•	••	GS	•	••	3rd	•	•	Q
Greece	×	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•
Italy	×	•	•	•	•	••	•	GS	3rd
Russia	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	Q
Spain	×	•	•	•	•	••	•	3rd	2nd
Turkey	×	•	•	•	•	3rd	•	•	•

See also

Competitions

Resolutions

Major non-UEFA competitions

Financial fair play

• UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations

UEFA coefficient

• UEFA coefficient

UEFA presidents

• List of Presidents of UEFA

Related links

Previous logo (until 2012)

• Timeline of football
• Confederation of South American Football (CONMEBOL)
• Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)
• Confederation of African Football (CAF)
• Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
• Oceania Football Confederation (OFC)

References

External links

• Official website
• Union of European Football Association, Soccerlens.com. Retrieved: 9 October 2010.

International football International association football FIFA World Cup Confederations Cup U-20 World Cup U-17 World Cup Olympics Universiade World Rankings Player of the Year FIFA Ballon d'Or Geography Teams Debuts Competitions Federations Codes Asia AFC – Asian Cup U-23 U-19 U-16 U-14 Africa CAF – Africa Cup of Nations U-23 U-20 U-17 North America, Central America and the Caribbean CONCACAF – Gold Cup U-20 U-17 U-15 South America CONMEBOL – Copa América U-20 U-17 U-15 Oceania OFC – Nations Cup President's Cup U-20 U-17 Europe UEFA – European Championship U-21 U-19 U-17 Non-FIFA NF-Board – Viva World Cup CONIFA - ConIFA World Football Cup IGA - Island Games Games All-Africa Games Asian Games Central America Central America and Caribbean East Asian Games Francophonie Games Mediterranean Games Pan American Games Pan Arab Games Pacific Games South Asian Games Southeast Asian Games See also International women's association football FIFA World Cup Olympics Algarve Cup Cyprus Cup U-20 World Cup U-17 World Cup World Rankings Player of the Year Player of the Century FIFA Ballon d'Or Geography Teams Competitions Federations Codes Asia AFC Women's Asian Cup U-19 U-16 Regional (ASEAN, EAFF, SAFF, WAFF) Africa CAF Women's Championship U-20 U-17 North America, Central America and Caribbean CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup U-20 U-17 South America CONMEBOL Copa América Femenina U-20 U-17 Oceania OFC Women's Nations Cup U-20 U-17 Europe UEFA Women's Championship U-19 U-17 Non-FIFA NF-Board Women's Viva World Cup Games All-Africa Games Asian Games Central American Games Pan American Games Pacific Games South Asian Games Southeast Asian Games Universiade See also International futsal AMF AMF Futsal World Cup FIFA FIFA Futsal World Cup Women's Futsal World Tournament Grand Prix Confederations Cup Pan American Games South American Games Mediterranean Cup Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games Lusophony Games Southeast Asian Games Futsal Awards Teams Asia AFC – Futsal Championship Africa CAF – Futsal Championship North America Central America and Caribbean CONCACAF – Futsal Championship South America CONMEBOL – Copa América Oceania OFC – Futsal Championship Europe UEFS – UEFS Futsal Men's Championship – UEFS Futsal Women's Championship; UEFA – Futsal Championship International beach soccer FIFA Beach Soccer Worldwide World Cup Mundialito (clubs) Pro Beach Soccer Tour Intercontinental Cup Rankings Asian Beach Games European Games Asia AFC – Championship Africa CAF – Championship North America Central America and Caribbean CONCACAF – Championship South America CONMEBOL – Championship Oceania OFC – Championship Europe UEFA – FIFA Qualifiers Cup League Winners Cup International club football FIFA FIFA Club World Cup List of association football clubs Asia AFC – Champions League AFC Cup President's Cup Top-division clubs Africa CAF – Champions League Confederation Cup Super Cup Top-division clubs North America, Central America and the Caribbean CONCACAF – Champions League Top-division clubs South America CONMEBOL – Copa Libertadores Copa Sudamericana Recopa Sudamericana Top-division clubs Oceania OFC – Champions League Top-division clubs Europe UEFA – Champions League Europa League Super Cup Top-division clubs See also: International women's club football FIFA International Women's Club Championship List of women's association football clubs Asia AFC – None Africa CAF – None North, Central America and the Caribbean CONCACAF – None South America CONMEBOL – Copa Libertadores Femenina Oceania OFC – None Europe UEFA – Women's Champions League See also: International club futsal (FIFA) FIFA Intercontinental Futsal Cup Asia AFC – AFC Futsal Club Championship · Top-division clubs Africa CAF – None · Top-division clubs North America Central America and Caribbean CONCACAF – CONCACAF Futsal Club Championship · Top-division clubs South America CONMEBOL – Copa Libertadores de Futsal · Top-division clubs Oceania OFC – None · Top-division clubs Europe UEFA – UEFA Futsal Cup · Cup Winners Cup (Unofficial) · Top-division clubs See also (AMF)