UICA
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| Founded | 2176 (Bedistani) |
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| Type | Sports organization |
| Headquarters | Aeropag, Paripana Lasft, Cafundéu |
| Membership | 85 national associations Paripana Sporting Council |
| Official languages | English, French |
The Union of International Club Associations, commonly known by its acronym UICA (/juːˈikə/ ew-EE-kə), is the governing body of the four major world football club competitions: the Champions’ Cup, the Globe Cup, the Series B Champions’ Cup, and the Super Cup. It was formed to centralize the organization and branding of the related, but then separate, Champions’ Cup (which also had authority over the SBCC and Super Cup), run by a committee in Aeropag, Paripana, and Globe Cup, run by a committee in Lasft, Cafundéu. The union retained the separate organizational structures and distinct formats of the two competitions, but established a new headquarters at the Olympic Tower in Aeropag.
UICA’s competitions have fostered interest in club football around the world, and in particular have increased the global appeal of leagues like the Primeirona. UICA maintains a coëfficient ranking of member associations based on their clubs’ performance in the Champions’ Cup and Globe Cup, which provides an important indicator of a league’s prestige, and determines how many clubs the league is entitled to enter in the Champions’ Cup. The growth of club football has also led to the creation of additional tournaments outside of UICA’s purview, such as the Cygnus Cup, Rushmore Copa de Campeones, and Aeropag Football Invitational.
The UICA tournaments, though the most successful world club competitions to date, are based upon earlier competitions like the Champions League and International Association Football League. Unlike the Champions League, UICA holds its tournaments at time intervals consistent with the World Cup, as most domestic leagues are also synchronized with the World Cup. UICA does, however, use a season-by-season entry system similar to that of the Champions League, running the competitions in parallel with domestic leagues rather than being tied to a system of promotion and relegation like that of the IAFL. The formation of the Champions’ Cup was more directly preceded by the Tournoi IRC, a competition played between the champions of four leagues.
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Competitions
| Competition | Entries | Teams | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Champions’ Cup (CC) | 1–4 | Champions and best-placed teams | |
| Globe Cup (GC) | 3 | Best-placed teams outside CC | |
| Series B Champions’ Cup (SBCC) | 4 | Best second-division teams | |
| Super Cup (SC) | CC, GC, and SBCC champions | ||
UICA runs four different club competitions, each with a distinct purpose. The Champions’ Cup, the first UICA competition, involves the champions of every participating association and other highly-placed teams from some associations, and is the only competition to have a quota based on the coëfficients list. The Globe Cup includes three teams from each participating association—the best-placed teams that did not qualify for the Champions’ Cup—and additionally includes many teams eliminated from the Champions’ Cup. The Series B Champions’ Cup is a championship for second-division teams—four from each association—and as a result, teams in their association’s first-division league are not permitted to enter the Series B Champions’ Cup. Finally, the Super Cup is played at the end of the UICA season between the winners of the other three competitions.
The Champions’ Cup, Globe Cup, and Series B Champions’ Cup each use a format including a series of preliminary rounds, a group stage, and a series of knockout rounds. All ties, except the competition finals, are played over two legs, with the away goals rule used if the aggregate score is level after the two legs or after extra time. The group stages are four-team round-robins, with each team playing the others in its group home and away, receiving three points for a win and one for a draw. The competitions’ finals are played as single matches at neutral sites, chosen by a selection committee or by the tournament’s sponsor, from among bids submitted by the member associations. The Super Cup is a three-team round-robin, with each team playing one home and one away match according to a fixed schedule.
UICA maintains a consistent graphic identity across the four competitions, each competition using the same black star-shaped logo with its own unique color: the Champions’ Cup uses orange, the Globe Cup blue, the Series B Champions’ Cup yellow, and the Super Cup green.
Champions’ Cup
- Main article: Champions’ Cup
The Champions’ Cup (previously known as the TakilQuip Champions’ Cup and abbreviated TQCC) is the longest-running global club football competition, having had thirty-five editions to date. UICA considers it to be the world championship for club teams, involving the champions of each participating association’s league. Twenty-two teams, including the defending champion and the champions of twelve associations, qualify directly for the competition’s group stage, while other teams must negotiate the preliminary and playoff rounds. Teams eliminated in the preliminary and playoff rounds, as well as some teams eliminated in the group stage, receive a second chance at UICA competition in the Globe Cup. The Champions’ Cup is the only UICA competition to have an official capacity requirement for its final stadium; bids from stadia with a capacity under 60 000 are summarily rejected.
The allocation of places in the Champions’ Cup is determined by UICA coëfficients. The top three associations in the coëfficient list are allowed to enter four teams, the fourth- through sixth-placed associations are allowed three places, the seventh- through twenty-eighth-placed associations two places, and all lower-ranked or unranked associations are allowed only one place for their champion. Additionally, a place is reserved for the title holder if it fails to qualify; if this team is from one of the top three associations, it replaces the fourth-placed team, while if the team is from a lower-ranked association, that association receives an additional place if necessary.
The most successful club in the Champions’ Cup is Yuba United, which has won the tournament on five occasions, and is the only club to receive the UICA Star and be permanently awarded the World Champion Clubs’ Cup trophy. Twelve associations have had clubs win the tournament, of which Cafundéu and Capitalizt SLANI have been the most successful with six titles each.
Champion clubs
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5 titles
4 titles
3 titles
2 titles
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2 titles
1 title
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1 title
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Globe Cup
- Main article: Globe Cup
The Globe Cup is the largest of the UICA competitions, recently involving over two hundred teams. Each association, regardless of coëfficient, is allowed to enter three teams in the tournament, and no place is reserved for the defending champion. These teams are joined by teams eliminated from the TakilQuip Champions’ Cup. All teams entering the Globe Cup directly must navigate a series of preliminary rounds which, unlike the other competitions, each have a unique name. The ten teams eliminated in the Champions’ Cup playoff round join the other thirty-eight qualifiers in the group stage, which consists of twelve groups of four. The top two teams in each group are then joined by the eight third-placed teams in the Champions’ Cup group stage, forming a thirty-two team knockout phase.
The distribution of championships is much less lopsided in the Globe Cup than the Champions’ Cup; no less than fourteen different associations have seen clubs win the tournament. No club has managed to defend the title, and only four clubs have won the cup on two separate occasions, all of which have also reached the Champions’ Cup final. Cafundéu, Candelaria And Marquez, Capitalizt SLANI, and Valanora share the record of the most titles for an association, with four apiece.
Champion clubs
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2 titles
1 title
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1 title
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1 title
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Series B Champions’ Cup
- Main article: Series B Champions’ Cup
The Series B Champions’ Cup is the only UICA competition not intended for first-division teams; it is restricted to teams in their association’s second division or lower. Each association is allowed to enter four teams, regardless of coëfficient, and no place is reserved for the title holder. The format is similar to the Champions’ Cup, with a thirty-two team group stage and a sixteen-team knockout phase. Participation in the Series B Champions’ Cup is largely due to the financial incentives, especially for clubs promoted to the first division, rather than any prestige associated with winning the tournament.
Ad’ihan, Cafundéu, and Candelaria And Marquez have had the most successful second-division leagues, with Ad’ihan and Cafundéu winning the tournament six times each, and C&M five times. Hatton Town, Metropolitano, and Gamboa FC, of the same three associations, are the only clubs to win the tournament twice—a difficult feat, since many leagues’ SBCC participants are promoted to the first division in the same season, and must be relegated before they can have another chance at participating.
Champion clubs
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2 titles
1 title
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1 title
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1 title
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Super Cup
- Main article: Super Cup
The Super Cup is held at the end of each UICA season between the winners of the other three competitions, and provides an opportunity for the winners of the Globe Cup and Series B Champions’ Cup winners to challenge the world champion. It consists of three matches: first, the Globe Cup winner hosts the SBCC winner; next, the SBCC winner hosts the Champions’ Cup winner; finally, the Champions’ Cup winner hosts the Globe Cup winner. The team with the most points from this round-robin is declared the champion. In the event that two teams are tied, even for second place, kicks from the penalty mark are played after the final match to break the tie. In the event that all three teams are tied (which has not yet occured in thirty-two editions), an unusual three-way penalty shootout would ensue.
Champion clubs
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3 titles
2 titles
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1 title
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1 title
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Membership
- Main article: List of UICA member associations
UICA does not maintain a persistent membership; associations can join at any time simply by entering teams for the next season of competitions, and are removed when they decline to enter competitions for a period of five seasons. Currently, eighty-five national associations are members of UICA. Associations are allocated places in the Champions’ Cup based on their coëfficient ranking, determined according to the performance of their clubs over the last five seasons. Every association, regardless of ranking, is allowed to enter three places in the Globe Cup and four places in the Series B Champions’ Cup.
There are several leagues which consist of teams from multiple associations. These “multiassociational leagues” are allowed to enter a number of places equal to those earned by the league’s top two ranked associations, and can share these places among all of the league’s associations subject to certain restrictions. The first multiassociational league was the Élite League, which is unique in that its associations are not individual members of UICA, but are instead represented in UICA by the Paripana Sporting Council.
Current members
- ^ L’Association francophone, Capitalizt SLANI, Jasĭyun, and Lontorika are members of the Paripana Sporting Council, and not individually members of UICA.
Former members
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- ^ Elves Security Forces was renamed Valanora, and assigned a new association code.
- ^ Kericia was formerly known as Kereca, but retained the same association code.
- ^ Köse and The Turkomans was succeeded by Köseli Cumhuriyetler, and assigned a new association code.
- ^ Princess Béatrice Island was succeeded by Nova Cambria et PBI, and assigned a new association code.
- ^ Vephrall was renamed Virçais, and assigned a new association code.
- ^ West Starblaydia was succeeded by Krytenia, and assigned a new association code.
References
- International Domestic Soccer NewsWires thread, in which UICA competitions are held
International club football
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