Netherlands wins UEFA Fair Play award; Extra team heads to Europa

The Netherlands has won UEFA's Respect Fair Play Award, and as such will be able to enter an additional team in the first qualifying round of the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League. Second and third place, England and Ireland respectively, will also be granted an additional slot. For the Fair Play award official delegates from UEFA judged teams on criteria such as positive play, respect for the opposition, respect for the referee, behavior of the crowd and cautions and dismissals. Only teams that have played a minimum of 37 matches qualified for the final rankings. The three top associations will now be able to enter the club that has won their domestic fair play competition into the Europa League. If this team has already qualified for the competition, the second place team may be entered. In the last national standings FC Twente seemed to be the team that would take this extra slot for the Netherlands. But president Aldo van der Laan said at a supporters meeting on Thursday that the club will not participate in European football because it is not financially viable for the club at present. The club is currently under the KNVB's guardianship.