Feyenoord could not defend their title as they automatically qualified for the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League and were also eliminated from all European competitions after finishing bottom of their group.
Association team allocation
A total of 145 teams from 51 UEFA member associations participated in the 2002–03 UEFA Cup. The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[2]
Associations 1–6 each had three teams qualified;
Associations 7–8 each had four teams qualified;
Associations 9–15 each had two teams qualified;
Associations 16–21 each had three teams qualified;
Associations 22–49 (except Liechtenstein) each had two teams qualified;
Associations 50–51 each had one team qualified;
Liechtenstein had one team qualified (as it organises only a domestic cup and no domestic league);
The winners of the 2001–02 UEFA Cup were given an additional entry as title holders if they did not qualify for the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League or UEFA Cup through their domestic performance. However, this additional entry was not necessary for this season since the title holders (Feyenoord) qualified for European competitions through their domestic performance.
Association ranking
For the 2002–03 UEFA Cup, the associations were allocated places according to their 2001 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 1996–97 to 2000–01.[3][4]
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations had additional teams participating in the UEFA Cup, as noted below:
(FP) – Additional berth via Fair Play ranking (Norway, England, Czech Republic)[5]
(UCL) – Additional teams transferred from the Champions League
(UIC) – Additional teams qualified from the Intertoto Cup
Since the title holders (Feyenoord) qualified for the Champions League through their domestic performance, the first round spot reserved for the title holders was vacated, and the following changes to the default allocation system were made:[2][4]
The domestic cup winners of associations 17 (Switzerland) and 18 (Croatia) were promoted from the qualifying round to the first round.
Teams entering in this round
Teams advancing from previous round
Teams transferred from Champions League
Qualifying round (82 teams)
2 domestic league winners from associations 50 (Andorra) and 51 (San Marino)
31 domestic cup winners from associations 19–49
33 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–48 (except Liechtenstein)
13 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 9–21
3 teams which qualified via Fair Play ranking
First round (96 teams)
Title holders
18 domestic cup winners from associations 1–18
2 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 7–8
5 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 4–8
8 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 1–8
3 domestic league sixth-placed teams from associations 1–3
16 losers from the Champions League third qualifying round
Second round (48 teams)
48 winners from the first round
Third round (32 teams)
24 winners from the second round
8 third-placed teams from the Champions League first group stage
Redistribution rules
A UEFA Cup place is vacated when a team qualifies for both the Champions League and the UEFA Cup, or qualifies for the UEFA Cup by more than one method. When a place is vacated, it is redistributed within the national association by the following rules:[2]
When the domestic cup winners (considered as the "highest-placed" qualifier within the national association with the latest starting round) also qualify for the Champions League, their UEFA Cup place is vacated. As a result, either of the following teams qualify for the UEFA Cup:
The domestic cup runners-up, provided they have not yet qualified for European competitions, qualify for the UEFA Cup as the "lowest-placed" qualifier (with the earliest starting round), with the other UEFA Cup qualifiers moved up one "place".
Otherwise, the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions qualify for the UEFA Cup, with the UEFA Cup qualifiers that finish above them in the league, moved up one "place".
When the domestic cup winners also qualify for the UEFA Cup through league position, their place through the league position is vacated. As a result, the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions qualify for the UEFA Cup, with the UEFA Cup qualifiers that finish above them in the league moved up one "place" if possible.
For associations where a UEFA Cup place is reserved for the League Cup winners, they always qualify for the UEFA Cup as the "lowest-placed" qualifier (or as the second "lowest-placed" qualifier in cases where the cup runners-up qualify as stated above). If the League Cup winners have already qualified for European competitions through other methods, this reserved UEFA Cup place is taken by the highest-placed league team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions.
A Fair Play place is taken by the highest-ranked team in the domestic Fair Play table which have not yet qualified for European competitions.
Teams
The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:[4]
TH: Title holders
CW: Cup winners
CR: Cup runners-up
LC: League Cup winners
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position
FP: Fair Play
IC: UEFA Intertoto Cup winners
CL: Transferred from the Champions League
GS1: Third-placed teams from the first group stage
Austria (AUT): Tirol Innsbruck, the winners of the 2001–02 Austrian Football Bundesliga, declared bankruptcy and could not take part in the European competitions. As a result, their Champions League third qualifying round berth was given to Grazer AK, the third-placed team of the league, and the UEFA Cup qualifying round place was given to Kärnten, the fifth-placed team of the league.
Azerbaijan (AZE): In 2002, Azerbaijani clubs were banned from the European competitions for a period of two years, in response to a long-standing conflict between the national football association and the majority of the top-flight clubs.[6]
Finland (FIN): Atlantis, the winners of the 2001 Finnish Cup, declared bankruptcy and could not take part in the European competitions. Since cup runners-up Tampere United qualified for the Champions League as winners of the 2001 Veikkausliiga, their berth was given to MyPa-47, the third-placed team of the league.
Latvia (LAT): The revised schedule of the Latvian Cup, the domestic cup competition, overlapped with the UEFA Cup competition schedule. As a result, the domestic cup winner did not qualify for the UEFA Cup this season, and its berth was given to Liepājas Metalurgs, the 3rd-placed team of the 2001 Latvian Higher League.
Sweden (SWE): The revised schedule of the Svenska Cupen, the domestic cup competition, overlapped with the UEFA Cup competition schedule. As a result, the domestic cup winner did not qualify for the UEFA Cup this season, and its berth was given to IFK Göteborg, the fourth-placed team of the 2001 Allsvenskan.
Round and draw dates
The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).[7]
In the qualifying round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2002 UEFA club coefficients,[8] and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.
The draw was held on 21 June 2002 in Geneva, Switzerland. The first leg was played on 13 and 15 August, and the second leg was played on 29 August 2002.
As in the previous round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams, based on their UEFA club coefficients,[8] and drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.
The draw was held on 30 August 2002 in Monaco. The first leg was played on 17 and 19 September, and the second leg was played on 1 and 3 October 2002.
As in the previous rounds, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams, based on their UEFA club coefficients,[8] and drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.
The draw was held on 8 October 2002 in Nyon, Switzerland. The first leg was played on 29 and 31 October, and the second leg was played on 7, 12 and 14 November 2002.
In the final phase, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:
In the draws for the third and fourth rounds, teams were seeded and divided into groups containing an equal number of seeded and unseeded teams. In each group, the seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the first team drawn hosting the first leg. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.
In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there were no seedings and teams from the same association could be drawn against each other.
The draw was held on 15 November 2002 in Geneva, Switzerland.[9] The first leg was played on 26 and 28 November, and the second leg was played on 10 and 12 December 2002.
The draw for the fourth round and quarter-finals was held on 13 December 2002.[10] The first leg was played on 20 February, and the second leg was played on 27 February 2003.
The draw for the semi-finals and final (to determine the "home" team for administrative purposes) was held on 21 March 2003. The first leg was played on 10 April, and the second leg was played on 24 April 2003.