2002–03 UEFA Cup#Qualifying Round

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:{{cite web|title=Regulations of the UEFA Cup 2002/03|url=http://kassiesa.net/uefafiles/2002-uefa-uc-rules.pdf|publisher=Union of European Football Associations|access-date=20 August 2014|page=26|format=PDF}}

• 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 22–52 (except Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein, San Marino and Andorra) each had two teams qualified;
• Liechtenstein (as they organized only a domestic cup and no domestic league), San Marino and Andorra had one team qualified;
• The top three associations of the 2001–02 UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking each gained an additional berth;
• Moreover, 24 teams eliminated from the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League were transferred to the UEFA Cup.

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.

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.{{cite web|url=https://kassiesa.net/uefa/data/method2/crank2001.html|title=UEFA Country Ranking 2001|publisher=Bert Kassies|access-date=20 August 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://kassiesa.net/uefa/history/qual2002.html|title=Qualification for European Cup football 2002/03|publisher=Bert Kassies|access-date=20 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212314/http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/history/qual2002.html|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}}

Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations had additional teams participating in the UEFA Cup, as noted below:

• {{small|(FP)}} – Additional berth via Fair Play ranking (Norway, England, Czech Republic){{cite web|url=https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0185-0e6a457d7fe2-6cc5f81db13d-1000--uefa-cup-bonus-for-ipswich-and-sigma/|title=UEFA Cup bonus for Ipswich and Sigma|website=UEFA|publisher=Union of European Football Associations|date=28 May 2002|access-date=20 August 2014}}
• {{small|(UCL)}} – Additional teams transferred from the Champions League
• {{small|(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:

• The domestic cup winners of associations 17 (Switzerland) and 18 (Croatia) were promoted from the qualifying round to the first round.

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:

• 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.

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:

• 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
• Q3: Losers from the third qualifying round

;Notes

{{Cnote2 Begin|liststyle=disc}}

{{Cnote2|Note AUT|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 GAK, 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.}}

{{Cnote2|Note AZE|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.{{cite web|last1=Dryomin|first1=Mike|title=Azerbaijan 2002/03|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/azer03.html|publisher=Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation|access-date=21 August 2014|date=1 October 2003}}}}

{{Cnote2|Note FIN|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, the third-placed team of the league.}}

{{Cnote2|Note LVA|Latvia (LVA): 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.}}

{{Cnote2|Note SWE|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.}}

{{Cnote2 End}}

The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).{{cite web|title=UEFA European Football Calendar 2002/2003|url=https://kassiesa.net/uefa/history/dates2002.html|publisher=Bert Kassies|access-date=20 August 2014|archive-date=2 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302154721/http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/history/dates2002.html|url-status=dead}}

{{main|2002–03 UEFA Cup qualifying round}}

The draw was held on 21 June 2002 in Geneva, Switzerland.{{#lst:2002–03 UEFA Cup qualifying round|QR}}

{{main|2002–03 UEFA Cup first round}}

The draw was held on 30 August 2002 in Monaco.{{#lst:2002–03 UEFA Cup first round|R1}}

{{main|2002–03 UEFA Cup second round}}

The draw was held on 8 October 2002 in Nyon, Switzerland.{{#lst:2002–03 UEFA Cup second round|R2}}

{{main|2002–03 UEFA Cup final phase}}

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.

{{trim|{{#section-h:2002–03 UEFA Cup final phase|Bracket}}}}

The draw was held on 15 November 2002 in Geneva, Switzerland.{{cite web|title=UEFA Cup – Lazio and Liverpool top seeds|url=https://kassiesa.net/uefa/news/021115a.html|publisher=Union of European Football Associations|access-date=3 September 2014|date=15 November 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130915234556/http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/news/021115a.html|archive-date=15 September 2013|url-status=dead}}{{#lst:2002–03 UEFA Cup final phase|R3}}

The draw for the fourth round was held on 13 December 2002.{{cite web|title=UEFA Cup – Sixteen await UEFA Cup fate|url=https://kassiesa.net/uefa/news/021213a.html|publisher=Union of European Football Associations|access-date=4 September 2014|date=13 December 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130915234603/http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/news/021213a.html|archive-date=15 September 2013|url-status=dead}}{{#lst:2002–03 UEFA Cup final phase|R4}}

{{#lst:2002–03 UEFA Cup final phase|QF}}

{{#lst:2002–03 UEFA Cup final phase|SF}}

{{#lst:2002–03 UEFA Cup final phase|F}}

• 2002–03 UEFA Champions League
• 2003 UEFA Super Cup

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110924081712/http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/season=2002/index.html 2002–03 UEFA Cup] at UEFA
• [https://www.rsssf.org/ec/ec200203.html 2002–03 UEFA Cup] at RSSSF

{{UEFA Europa League seasons}}

{{2002–03 in European Football (UEFA)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:2002-03 UEFA Cup}}

Category:UEFA Europa League seasons

2

2