The Cyprus Football Association (CFA) is expecting further clarifications about a general meeting of Turkish Cypriot football organizations, during which the text of a provisional arrangement on all organizations of football of Cyprus is said to have been approved.
According to CNA sources, CFA expects to be briefed on the precise nature of what was approved at the meeting, given conflicting reports on developments in the matter. According to reports Turkish Cypriot football organizations have not in fact approved the actual text of the agreement but they have decided to empower the Turkish Cypriot Football Association (TCFA) President Hasan Sertoğlu to attempt to amend the agreement with provisions which would be more favourable to the TCFA.
The same sources indicate that CFA will not accept any amendments since it considers the text of the agreement final.
On November 5, at the Home of FIFA in Zurich a major milestone in the history of Cypriot football was reached with the signing of a provisional arrangement for the organisations of football in Cyprus. The document was signed by Cyprus Football Association (CFA) President Costakis Koutsokoumnis and the Turkish Cypriot Football Association (TCFA) President Hasan Sertoğlu. FIFA President Joseph Blatter and UEFA President Michel Platini confirmed this arrangement as witnesses. Under the arrangement, the TCFA becomes a member of the CFA as an association in accordance with the CFA’s statutes and regulations.
Sertoglu stated after the agreement was signed that he was not satisfied with the content of the arrangement, adding that efforts to improve it will continue.
According to reports from Cyprus’ Turkish occupied areas, in the north of the country, the provisional arrangement was approved by all 42 Turkish Cypriot football organizations.
In statements he made after the meeting, on Friday, Sertoğlu expressed his satisfaction for the unanimous approval and said that this development “is not the end, but the beginning”.
Cyprus was divided in 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Previous UN- led efforts to reunify the island under a federal roof have been unsuccessful. Since then, there has been virtually no contact between the island’s two communities until 2003, when the illegal Turkish Cypriot regime in occupied Cyprus lifted partially the restrictions it had imposed on free movement of people