) Official Logo | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | North Cyprus |
| Dates | 19 November – 25 November |
| Teams | 8 |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Northern Cyprus (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Crimean Tatars |
| Third place |  Kyrgyzstan |
| Fourth place |  Zanzibar |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 16 |
| Goals scored | 62 (3.88 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Ertaç Taşkıran (6 goals) |
The ELF Cup (Equality, Liberty, Fraternity) was an international football tournament organised by the Cyprus Turkish Football Federation (KTFF), a member of the NF-Board. It was played only once in 2006. Among the participants were NF-Board teams, and FIFA member teams from the Asian Football Confederation.
ELF Cup 2006
The 2006 ELF Cup took place in the North Cyprus between November 19 and 25. Initially announced for non-FIFA teams only, the 2006 tournament also found places for three teams from the Asian Football Confederation - Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan. However, under pressure from FIFA, Afghanistan withdrew from the tournament. [1]
Controversy
Initially, it was announced that the North Cyprus were to hold the inaugural VIVA World Cup tournament, organised by the NF-Board as a bi-annual competition for the best non-FIFA nations. However, a dispute between the NF-Board and a new regime at the KTFF led to the tournament being taken away and granted to Occitania. The NF-Board claimed that the new government of the North Cyprus insisted on restricting which nations could and could not take part. The KTFF, however, claimed that the NF-Board made unreasonable financial demands.[2]
In response, the KTFF announced that the ELF Cup would be held at the same time as the VIVA World Cup, and have promised to pay travelling expenses to the participants, which has attracted some NF-Board members. The KTFF hope that the tournament will bring North Cyprus further into the international arena.[3]
Competitors
Crimean Tatars – representing the Crimean Tatars.
Găgăuzia – Gagauzia, an autonomous region of Moldova.
Greenland – an autonomous region of Denmark, and nominally under the control of the Danish Football Association and is a NF-Board member.
Kyrgyzstan – a member of the AFC and FIFA, represented here by their futsal team.
Tajikistan – a member of the AFC and FIFA, represented here by their futsal team.
Tibet – an autonomous region of China, fiercely independent in exile and is a NF-Board member.
Northern Cyprus – the hosts, an internationally unrecognised state and is a NF-Board member.
Zanzibar – historically a part of Tanzania, but with membership of the CAF and of the NF-Board, represented here by their under-20 national team.
Results
The eight participants were drawn into two groups of four, with the top two from each group progressing to the knockout stage. For details of the squads, see 2006 ELF Cup Squads.
Group A
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyrgyzstan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 6 |
| Zanzibar | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 |
 Greenland | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 |
 Găgăuzia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | –7 | 1 |
| Găgăuzia | 0–2 | Greenland |
|---|---|---|
Kristian Sandgreen  33'Niklas Kreutzmann 68' (pen.) |
| Kyrgyzstan | 0–1 | Zanzibar |
|---|---|---|
| Suleiman Kassim Suleiman 9' |
| Găgăuzia | 1–6 | Kyrgyzstan |
|---|---|---|
| Marcov 31' | Jenish Mamatov 14', 37' Dilshat Kadyrov 19'Mihail Sundeev 65', 90'Ulan Ryskulov 75' |
| Greenland | 1–1 | Zanzibar |
|---|---|---|
| Pelle Mortensen 78' | Omar 62' |
| Greenland | 0–1 | Kyrgyzstan |
|---|---|---|
| Vadim Kondratkov 24' |
| Găgăuzia | 1–1 | Zanzibar |
|---|---|---|
| Denis Ceavdari 79' | Muhammed Seif Muhammed 76' |
Group B
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Cyprus | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | +19 | 9 |
| Crimean Tatars | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | –3 | 6 |
 Tajikistan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | –2 | 3 |
 Tibet | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 | –14 | 0 |
| Tibet | 0–3 | Tajikistan |
|---|---|---|
| Daler Aknazarov 59', 67' Firdavs Faizullaev 65' |
| Crimean Tatars | 0–5 | Northern Cyprus |
|---|---|---|
| Hamis Çakır 16' Ertaç Taşkıran 45'Rizvan Ablitarov 65' (o.g.)Kemal Uçaner 78'Ekrem Keleşzade 87' |
| Tibet | 0–1 | Crimean Tatars |
|---|---|---|
| Arsen Ablâmetov 41' (pen.) |
| Northern Cyprus | 5–1 | Tajikistan |
|---|---|---|
| Derviş Kolcu 34', 54' Kemal Uçaner 65', 90+1'Coşkun Ulusoy 71' | Daler Aknazarov 12' |
| Tajikistan | 1–2 | Crimean Tatars |
|---|---|---|
| Sergey Almukhamedov 45' | İrfan Ametov 36' Halil Hayredinov 87' |
| Northern Cyprus | 10–0 | Tibet |
|---|---|---|
| Hamis Çakır 13', 30', 37' Ediz Çukurovalı 14', 24', 43'Sabri Selden 17', 29'Atkun Arıkbuka 54'Yasin Kansu 77' |
Semi-Finals
| Kyrgyzstan | 2–3 (a.e.t.) | Crimean Tatars |
|---|---|---|
| Mihail Sundeev 90+2' Arsen Mustafayev 102' | Ruslan Emiratlı 18' Arsen Ablâmetov 94' (pen.)Marlen Akimov 97' |
| Northern Cyprus | 5–0 | Zanzibar |
|---|---|---|
| Ertaç Taşkıran 24', 34', 47', 83' Coşkun Ulusoy 59' |
3rd Place Playoff
| Kyrgyzstan | 2–2 (7–6 PSO) | Zanzibar |
|---|---|---|
| Jenish Mamatov 55' Ulan Riskulov 65' | Muhammed Seif Muhammed 28', 47' |
Final
| Northern Cyprus | 3–1 | Crimean Tatars |
|---|---|---|
| Hamis Çakır 1' Hasan Sapsızoğlu 46'Ertaç Taşkıran 55' | Marlen Akimov 90+3' |
| 2006 ELF Cup Winners |
|---|
) North Cyprus First Title |
Golden Team
| Goalkeepers | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
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Scorers
Trivia
- All the matches were played with Adidas Teamgeist balls.
See also
Notes
- ^ "Afghanistan has withdrawn from the tournament". Official ELF Cup website. Retrieved November 14, 2006.
- ^ Steve Menary (October 2006). "Worlds apart". World Soccer Magazine. p. 105.
- ^ "The alternative World Cup". BBC Online. November 7, 2006. Retrieved November 7, 2006.
External links
- (in English) Official site
- (in Turkish) ELF Cup kicks off
- (in English) News about the Tibetan team
- (in English) Pictures from the tournament