UEFA rejects Welsh plea for European places
Reuters - Wednesday 21 March 2012, 14:24
Welsh clubs playing in
English competitions will not be allowed a route into Europe
through the Welsh Cup, UEFA ruled on Wednesday.
A plea by the FA of Wales (FAW) to UEFA to allow their clubs
playing in England to qualify for the Europa League via the
Welsh FA Cup was again rejected by the European governing body's
executive committee as it was 11 years ago.
A number of Welsh clubs, including Premier League Swansea
City, Championship side Cardiff City and lower
league teams like Wrexham, Newport County, Colwyn Bay and
Merthyr Tydfil all play in the English league pyramid and take
part in the English and not the Welsh FA Cup.
Swansea and Cardiff, and occasionally Wrexham or Newport,
were regular qualifiers for the old European Cup Winners' Cup
through winning the Welsh Cup.
Now Welsh representation in Europe is usually limited to the
qualifying rounds of the Champions League and Europa League
through the more minor League of Wales.
Wales last approached UEFA to change the rules in 2001 but
the plan was rejected then.
Cardiff would have been allowed to play in European
competition as one of England's representatives in next season's
Europa League if they had beaten Liverpool in last month's
League Cup final, or in 2008 when they lost to Portsmouth in the
English FA Cup final.
However, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino told a news
conference following the European body's two-day executive
committee meeting that it had again rejected the idea.
"The basic principle is that if you decide to play in
England, as these Welsh clubs are doing for historic reasons
starting before the league in Wales existed, then your path to
Europe is through that country," he said.
"You play in one country and qualify through that
competition."