Football deal ‘held up by the Turks’

The leaders of FIFA, UEFA and the two Cypriot football federations signing the deal last November

The Turkish Cypriot Football Federation is holding up a landmark deal to unify football operations on the island, according to the Cyprus High Commissioner.

Euripides Evriviades said football authorities in North Cyprus had “backtracked on the agreement” signed in Geneva in November 2013.

Under the agreement Cyprus’s two football associations had agreed to join forces and follow a “road map” towards full unity in the sport, beginning with the Turkish side submitting an application for membership of the internationally-recognised Cyprus Football Association (CFA).

But the Turkish side is understood to have requested an additional document regarding how the deal will be implemented, which the CFA is unwilling to accept.

Mr Evriviades said on the matter: “For the CFA, the things are clear: the CFA and the Cyprus Turkish Football Association (CFTA) have signed an agreement on 5 November 2013 and the CFTA must implement that agreement.

“To do that, the CFTA needs to submit an application to join the CFA as stipulated by the agreement.”