UEFA
Football World Cup 2006 Germany
UEFA
Croatia | Czech Republic | England | France | Germany | Italy | Netherlands | Poland | Portugal | Serbia and Montenegro | Spain | Sweden | Ukraine | Switzerland
UEFA logoThe Union of European Football Associations, almost always
referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced /juː'eɪfə/ (you-AY-fuh)
or /uː'eɪfə/ (oo-Ay-fuh), is the administrative and controlling body for
European football. It represents the national football associations of
Europe, runs Europe-wide national and club competitions, controls the prize
money, regulations and media rights to those competitions. Several Asian nations
belong to UEFA rather than the
Asian Football Confederation, including
Israel (though not Palestine), Turkey, Cyprus and most of the ex-Soviet
republics in the Caucasus and Central Asia regions.
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 are 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 52 associations,
including those of Turkey, Cyprus, Israel, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Kazakhstan.
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.
UEFA General Secretaries
Called Chief Executive since December 1999:
Henri Delaunay (1954 - 55)
Pierre Delaunay (1955 - 60)
Hans Bangerter (1960 - 89)
Gerhard Aigner
Lars-Christer Olsson
UEFA Presidents
Ebbe Schwartz
Gustav Wiederkehr
Artemio Franchi
Jacques Georges
Lennart Johansson (1990-)
Competitions
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.
UEFA World Cup Qualifiers
Women's Qualifiers
[1]
The following UEFA members have competed in the following
FIFA World Cups:
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, including
qualification for the
2006 World Cup)
+ = team and national federation no longer exist
- NOTE: FIFA considers Germany to carry West Germany's record. The
same goes for 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.
External links
Home | Up | Confederation of African Football | Asian Football Confederation | Oceania Football Confederation | CONMEBOL | UEFA | CONCACAF
Football World Cup 2006, made by MultiMedia | Free content and software
This guide is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
|