UEFA
Abbreviation	UEFA
Formation	15 June 1954 (1954-06-15) (58 years ago)
Type	Sports organisation
Headquarters	Nyon, Switzerland
Coordinates	46°22′16″N 6°13′52″E / 46.371009°N 6.23103°E / 46.371009; 6.23103
Region served	Europe
Membership	54 full member associations
Official languages	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] also referred to by its acronym UEFA (pron.: /juːˈeɪfə/ ew-AY-fə)) is the administrative body for association football in Europe and, partially, Asia. It is one of six continental confederations of world football's governing body FIFA. UEFA consists of fifty-four national associations members.

UEFA represents the national football associations of Europe, runs nation and club competitions, and controls the prize money, regulations and media rights to those competitions.

UEFA was founded on 15 June 1954 in Basel 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. Not all sovereign countries of Europe are members of UEFA, yet all non-members are micro states. Several Asian countries were also admitted to the European football association, particularly Israel and Kazakhstan, which had been members of the Asian football association.

Until 1959 the main headquarters were located in Paris, and later in Bern. Since 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.

National teams [edit]

For men [edit]

For women [edit]

1: Official name used by FIFA and UEFA for Bosnia and Herzegovina
2: Formerly member of AFC (AFC 1954–1974; Joined UEFA in 1994 due to the fact that several AFC teams refused to play against them)
3: Formerly member of AFC (AFC 1998–2002; Joined UEFA in 2002)
4: Official name used by FIFA and UEFA for Republic of Macedonia
5: Gibraltar was a provisional member of UEFA between 8 December 2006 and 26 January 2007 until the GFA had its application for full membership rejected. Gibraltar was again made a provisional member as of 1 October 2012. Gibraltar was granted full membership on 24 May 2013.^[5]

Former members [edit]

• Saarland Football Union 1954 - 1956
• German Football Association (GDR) 1954 - 1990
• Football Federation of the Soviet Union 1954-1991, in 1992 became Russian Football Union.

Competitions [edit]

International [edit]

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.

Club [edit]

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

UEFA also runs the two main club competitions in Europe (known as UEFA club competitions).

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 (and thus less competitive, held from 1955–1992 and known as the European Champion Clubs Cup or just 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 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.^[6][7][8]

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.^[9] The last Intertoto Cup took place in 2008.

The Intercontinental Cup was jointly organised with CONMEBOL between the Champions League and the Copa Libertadores winners.^[10]

Only four teams^[11][12] (Juventus, Ajax, Bayern Munich and Chelsea^[13]) have won each of the three main competitions (European Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winner's Cup and UEFA Cup/Europa League),^[14] 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 was the first team in Europe to win all UEFA's official championships and cups^[15] and, in commemoration of achieving that feat, have received The UEFA Plaque by the Union of European Football Associations on 12 July 1988.^[16][17]

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.

See also [edit]

Competitions [edit]

Resolutions [edit]

Major non-UEFA competitions [edit]

Financial Fair Play [edit]

• UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations

Related articles [edit]

Previous logo (until 2012)

• Timeline of football
• List of Presidents of UEFA

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: UEFA

• UEFA homepage
• Union of European Football Association, Soccerlens.com. Retrieved: 9 October 2010.

International football v t e International association football FIFA World Cup Confederations Cup U-20 World Cup U-17 World Cup Olympics Minor tournaments World Rankings Player of the Year FIFA Ballon d'Or Teams Debuts Competitions Federations Codes Asia AFC – Asian Cup U-22 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 South America CONMEBOL – Copa América U-20 U-17 U-15 Oceania OFC – Nations Cup U-20 U-17 Europe UEFA – European Championship U-21 U-19 U-17 Non-FIFA NF-Board – Viva World Cup IGA Island Games Games All-Africa Games Asian Games CARIFTA Games East Asian Games Francophonie Games IOIG Lusophony Games Mediterranean Games Pan American Games Pan Arab Games Pacific Games South Asian Games Southeast Asian Games See also International women's football v t e International women's 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 Teams Competitions Federations Codes Asia AFC Women's Asian Cup U-19 U-16 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 Sudamericano Femenino U-20 U-17 Oceania OFC Women's Championship 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 Southeast Asian Games See also International men's football v t e International futsal FIFA World Rankings FIFA Futsal World Cup Women's Futsal World Tournament Grand Prix Confederations Cup Pan American Games Odesur Games Mediterranean Cup Asian Indoor Games Lusophony Games UMBRO Futsal Awards Teams Organizations Codes 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 UEFA – Futsal Championship AMF AMF World Cup Europe UEFS – UEFS Futsal Men's Championship – UEFS Futsal Women's Championship v t e International beach soccer FIFA Beach Soccer Worldwide World Cup Mundialito (de Clubes) Pro Beach Soccer Tour Intercontinental Cup Rankings Asian Beach Games Asia AFC – Championship Africa CAF – Championship North America Central America and Caribbean CONCACAF – Championship South America CONMEBOL – Championship Oceania] OFC – Championship Europe UEFA – Championship · Cup · League v t e International men's club football FIFA Club World Cup (stats) Intercontinental Cup (stats, defunct) Confederation and inter-confederation winners Teams 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 Youth League Top-division clubs See also International club women's football. v t e International women's club football FIFA Teams mobcast Cup International Women's Club Championship Asia AFC – None Africa CAF – None Europe UEFA – Champions League North, Central America and the Caribbean CONCACAF – None Oceania OFC – None South America CONMEBOL – Copa Libertadores See also International club men's football. v t e 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 – None  · Top-division clubs South America CONMEBOL – South American Club Futsal Championship  · Top-division clubs Oceania OFC – None · Top-division clubs Europe UEFA – UEFA Futsal Cup · Cup Winners Cup (Unofficial) · Top-division clubs See also International club futsal (AMF)