UEFA

The Union of European Football Associations (French: Union des Associations Européennes de Football; German: Vereinigung Europäischer Fußballverbände), almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA (play /juːˈeɪfə/ ew-ay-fə) is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer.

UEFA represents most of the national football associations of Europe, runs national and club competitions in its area, and controls the prize money, regulations and media rights to those competitions. Due to the disputed boundary of Europe and Asia transcontinental nations such as Turkey, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, and Russia, are members of the UEFA rather than AFC, as are Israel and Cyprus which lie entirely in Asia (Israel and Kazakhstan are former AFC members). There are members that do not represent sovereign states, such as the Faroe Islands, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (Irish FA). However no unrecognized nations are members of UEFA, with Monaco being the only European UN member not a member of UEFA.

UEFA is the biggest of six continental confederations of FIFA. Of all the confederations, it is by far the strongest in terms of wealth and influence at the club level. Virtually all of the world's top players play in European leagues in part due to the salaries available from the world's wealthiest football clubs, particularly in England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France. Many of the world's strong national sides are in UEFA. Of the 32 available spots in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, 13 were allocated to UEFA national teams, and currently top 3 as well as other 9 of the top 20 teams in the FIFA World Rankings are UEFA members. UEFA is nearly as strong in the women's game, with five of the 16 places in the upcoming 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup guaranteed to UEFA members and a sixth possible, and 5 of the top 10 teams in the most recent FIFA Women's World Rankings are from UEFA, including double defending World Cup champion Germany. When national team results are not in UEFA's favour, UEFA's political and economic influence is noted as UEFA consistently is over-represented in all interntional competitions: Mens and Women's World Cup, FIFA U20 World Cup, FIFA U17 World Cup. A clear case is noted in the FIFA U20 World Cup for men where the South American and African conferences have been dominant as the last 5 champions and 8 of the 10 finalists have been either from South America or Africa. Despite this, South American and African representation at the tournament is limited to 4 teams while UEFA continues to be awarded 6 entries.

UEFA was founded on 15 June 1954 in Basel, Switzerland following discussions between the French, Italian and Belgian FAs. The headquarters was in Paris until 1959 when the organization moved to Bern. Henri Delaunay was the first General Secretary and Ebbe Schwartz the president. Its administrative center has been in Nyon, Switzerland, since 1995. It was initially made up of 25 national associations. Currently there are 53 associations (see the bottom of this page or List of UEFA national football teams). UEFA national teams have won ten FIFA World Cups (Italy 4, Germany 3, England, France and Spain, one trophy each), and UEFA clubs have won 21 Intercontinental Cups and four FIFA Club World Cups. In the women's game, UEFA sides have won three World Cups (Germany 2, Norway 1) and one Olympic gold medal (Norway).

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) had to undergo some major changes to remain in line with European law.

UEFA competitions

Clubs:

* UEFA Champions League
* UEFA Europa League
* UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1960–1999)
* UEFA Intertoto Cup (1995–2008)
* UEFA Super Cup
* UEFA Women's Champions League
* UEFA Futsal Cup
* UEFA club competition records
* List of UEFA club competition winners
* Intercontinental Cup (1960–2004)

National teams:

* UEFA European Football Championship
* UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship
* UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship
* UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship
* UEFA Women's Championship
* UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship
* UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship
* UEFA Futsal Championship
* UEFA Futsal Under-21 Championship
* UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup

Amateur:

* UEFA Regions' Cup
* UEFA Amateur Cup (1967–1978)

Abbreviation UEFA
Motto We care about Football
Formation June 15, 1954 (1954-06-15) (57 years ago)
Type Sports organisation
Headquarters Switzerland 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 53 national associations
Official languages English, French, German
Main organ UEFA Congress
Parent organization FIFA
Website www.UEFA.com