Man City, Everton, Fulham, West Ham Utd & Wigan All In Contention For UEFA Cup Place After Fair Play Bonus
UEFA have revealed that the English Premier League have gained an extra place in the UEFA Cup competition next season after finishing top of the fair play standings in Europe.
The highest finishing club in the national Fair Play rankings not yet participating in either the UEFA Champions League or the UEFA Cup are a potential contender for the place in the first round of the competition.
Manchester City are currently fifth in the domestic Fair Play League with a score of 299.8, however the four teams above them - Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal - have already gained places in European cup competition next season.
Surprisingly, relegation threatened Fulham are also in with a chance of gaining the place, with the Cottagers currently 7th in the fair-play league with a score of 297.8, behind Everton who need just a point in their match against Newcastle United on Sunday to automatically qualify for the UEFA Cup next year.
Two other teams that could manage to secure a place in the UEFA Cup via this route are West Ham United and Wigan Athletic, who are both level on a score of 294, with one match to play.
The points are calculated on a series of factors, with points being awarded for the following:
1. Yellow and Red cards: If no cards are shown the score will be 10. For every yellow card will deduct this total by 1 point. A red card will cost a team 3 points in the ranking. If the red card is the result of a second yellow card the deductions of the two yellow card will be ignored. But if a player gets a direct red card after he got a yellow card earlier, the yellow card will be counted as a deduction. This score could become negative.
2. Positive play: For positive play a team can score a maximum of 10 points and a minimum of 1 point.
3. Respect to the opponent: (e.g. returning the ball to the opponent at a throw-in) maximum 5 points, minimum 1 point.
4. Respect to the referee: maximum 5 points, minimum 1 point.
5. The behaviour of the team officials: maximum 5 points, minimum 1 point.
6. The behaviour of the fans: maximum of 5 points and a minimum of 1 point
(Please note: this criterion is ignored when the number of fans is inegligible e.g. if there are no fans at all or because of a penalty issued by UEFA.)
The total number of points will be divided by the maximum number of points (40 or 35) and multiplied by 10 which will result in a score between 0 and 10.
In 2004, Manchester City qualified for European competition via the same route, which takes the team into the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup next season.
