Norway top interim UEFA Respect fair play rankings

The UEFA Respect fair play rankings, based on all UEFA competition matches played at club and national team levels between 1 May 2011 and 30 April 2012, are currently headed by Norway.

Taking into account matches up to 31 December 2011, leaders Norway, second-placed Finland and third-placed Netherlands are leading the race for the three additional slots for the first qualifying round of the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League.

For the current intermediate rankings, only national associations that have played a minimum of 30 games are eligible. This cut-off point is calculated by dividing the total number of UEFA matches by the number of UEFA member associations.

As defined in UEFA's club competition regulations, the three extra places in the UEFA Europa League will go automatically to the three best-placed national associations in the Respect fair play rankings, provided they attained an average of 8.0 points or more. The Respect fair play assessments are made by the official UEFA delegates, based on criteria such as positive play, respect of the opponent, respect of the referee, behaviour of the crowd and of team officials, as well as cautions and dismissals.

Each of the three associations allocated an additional place in the first qualifying round of the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League will be entitled to enter the club that have won their domestic top-flight fair play competition. If this club have already qualified for a UEFA competition, the second-placed team in the domestic fair play competition may be entered, and so on. It is even possible for a team that have been relegated to the country's second division to qualify for the UEFA Europa League, as a result of exemplary fair play conduct during the domestic championship.

 See the UEFA Respect fair play rankings here.