MIKA handed UEFA Cup chance
UEFA.com, Europe
June 8 2004
Armenia’s FC MIKA and a Ukrainian team will compete in next season’s
UEFA Cup after gaining a place during the fair-play draw made at
half-time in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Bochum,
Germany.
Lucky sides
Clubs from Denmark, Norway, England, Germany, Republic of Ireland,
Finland, Spain, Albania, and Iceland also entered the draw to join
Sweden’s Östers IF in the 2004/05 competition.
MIKA chance
Currently second in their domestic league, which follows the calendar
year, MIKA were third in Armenia’s fair play ranking for last season.
They entered the draw as FC Banants qualified for the UEFA Cup
and second-placed FC Kotayk did not receive a UEFA licence. MIKA
entered the UEFA Cup in 2000/01 and 2001/02 – both times losing in
the qualifying round to Romanian opposition, AFC Rapid Bucuresti and
FC Brasov.
Ukrainian wait
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian side joining MIKA and Östers in the UEFA Cup
first qualifying round will not be known until 19 June, when their
domestic season ends.
Fair play rankings
The Swedish Football Association (SvFF) finished at the top of the
2003/04 UEFA Fair Play rankings with an average coefficient of 8.314,
meaning a berth for Östers. Another eleven associations finished the
season with a Fair Play coefficient of 8.0 or over, and had played
enough matches to be taken into consideration.
The other clubs nominated for the draw were:
Denmark: Esbjerg fB, winners of Denmark’s domestic fair play
competition.
Norway: SK Brann, runners-up in Norway’s fair play competition to
UEFA Champions League qualifiers Rosenborg BK.
England: Charlton Athletic FC, third in England’s fair play ranking.
First and second-placed Arsenal FC and Chelsea FC have already
qualified for the Champions League.
Germany: SC Freiburg, fifth in Gemany’s fair play ranking. First,
second and third-placed VfB Stuttgart, VfL Bochum 1848, SV Werder
Bremen and Bayer 04 Leverkusen have already qualified for the Champions
League or UEFA Cup.
Republic of Ireland: Cork City FC, runners-up in the domestic fair
play competition to UEFA Cup qualifiers Bohemian FC.
Finland: FC Lahti, winners of Finland’s domestic fair play competition.
Spain: RDC Mallorca, fourth in Spain’s fair play ranking. First,
second and third-placed Valencia CF, RC Deportivo La Coruña and FC
Barcelona have already qualified for the Champions League.
Albania: KS Teuta, fourth in Albania’s fair play ranking. First,
second and third-placed KS Tirana, KS Dinamo Tirana and FK Partizani
have already qualified for the Champions League or UEFA Cup.
Iceland: Throttur Reykjavík, winners of Iceland’s domestic fair
play competition.