EURO 2024 Copenhagen
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919. Alternative UEFA country rankings based on pairwise comparisons

Invited abstract in session TB-16: Ranking in sports, stream OR in Sports.

Tuesday, 10:30-12:00
Room: 19 (building: 116)

Authors (first author is the speaker)

1. Dora Greta Petroczy
Central Bank of Hungary
2. Laszlo Csato
Institute for Computer Science and Control (SZTAKI) and Corvinus University of Budapest

Abstract

UEFA country coefficients quantify the performance of UEFA associations’ football clubs in international club competitions. They are based on the results achieved over the previous five years, with points awarded for match results and bonus points allocated for reaching different tournament stages. The points earned by all clubs from each country are divided by the number of participating clubs to calculate the coefficient.
The ranking of UEFA associations by country coefficients is used to determine the number of clubs from the association that can participate in UEFA club coefficients, as well as the qualifying stage where they enter. Furthermore, two UEFA Champions League slots are provided for the two best associations in the previous year from the 2024/25 season.
Therefore, it is crucial to obtain a fair ranking of European football leagues. For this purpose, we propose new methods based on pairwise comparisons that—in contrast to the current UEFA country coefficients—account for the strengths of opponents, and calculate alternative rankings based on matches played in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Europa Conference League over the least 10 years. They will be compared to the official UEFA ranking, and the number of upsets (matches where the favourite team loses) will also be determined.

Keywords

Status: accepted

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