ELF Cup

ELF Cup
Official Logo
Tournament details
Host countryNorth Cyprus
Dates19 November – 25 November
Teams8
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 played16
Goals scored62 (3.88 per match)
Top scorer(s)Northern Cyprus 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

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
Sandgreen 33'
Kreutzmann 68' (pen.)
20 Temmuz Stadium, Kyrenia
Referee: Fahim Dayı (TRNC)

Kyrgyzstan 0–1 Zanzibar
Suleiman 9'
20 Temmuz Stadium, Kyrenia
Referee: Aziz Dayı (TRNC)

Găgăuzia 1–6 Kyrgyzstan
Marcov 31' Mamatov 14', 37'
Kadyrov 19'
Sundeev 65', 90'
Ryskulov 75'
Mağusa Dr. Fazıl Küçük Stadium, Gazimağusa
Referee: Mehmet Sezener (TRNC)

Greenland 1–1 Zanzibar
Kreutzmann 78' Omar 62'
Mağusa Dr. Fazıl Küçük Stadium, Gazimağusa
Referee: Serdar Bilginer (TRNC)

Greenland 0–1 Kyrgyzstan
Kondratkov 24'
20 Temmuz Stadium, Kyrenia
Referee: Cevdet Mertkaya (TRNC)

Găgăuzia 1–1 Zanzibar
Ceavdari 79' Muhammed 76'
20 Temmuz Stadium, Kyrenia
Referee: Alkın Gedikoğlu (TRNC)

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
Aknazarov 59', 67'
Faizullaev 65'
Referee: Abdullah Özsusuzlu (TRNC)

Crimean Tatars 0–5 Northern Cyprus
Çakır 16'
Taşkıran 45'
Ablitarov 65' (o.g.)
Uçaner 78'
Keleşzade 87'
Referee: Mehmet Malek (TRNC)

Tibet 0–1 Crimean Tatars
Ablâmetov 41' (pen.)
Referee: Ulus Sediral (TRNC)

Northern Cyprus 5–1 Tajikistan
Kolcu 34', 54'
Uçaner 65', 90+1'
Ulusoy 71'
Aknazarov 12'
Referee: Serkan Şimşek (TRNC)

Tajikistan 1–2 Crimean Tatars
Almukhamedov 45' Ametov 36'
Hayredinov 87'
Mağusa Dr. Fazıl Küçük Stadium, Gazimağusa
Referee: Mehmet Evlat (TRNC)

Northern Cyprus 10–0 Tibet
Çakır 13', 30', 37'
Çukurovalı 14', 24', 43'
Selden 17', 29'
Arıkbuka 54'
Kansu 77'
Mağusa Dr. Fazıl Küçük Stadium, Gazimağusa
Referee: Ramadan Göktan (TRNC)

Semi-finals

Kyrgyzstan 2–3 (a.e.t.) Crimean Tatars
Sundeev 90+2'
Mustafayev 102'
Emiratlı 18'
Ablâmetov 94' (pen.)
Akimov 97'
Referee: Mehmet Özbilgehan (TRNC)

Northern Cyprus 5–0 Zanzibar
Taşkıran 24', 34', 47', 83'
Ulusoy 59'
Referee: Savaş Tilki (TRNC)

3rd Place Playoff

Kyrgyzstan 2–2 Zanzibar
Mamatov 55'
Riskulov 65'
Muhammed 28', 47'
Penalties
7–6

Final

Northern Cyprus 3–1 Crimean Tatars
Çakır 1'
Sapsızoğlu 46'
Taşkıran 55'
Akimov 90+3'

2006 ELF Cup Winners
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
North Cyprus
First Title

Golden Team

Goalkeepers Defenders Midfielders Forwards

Northern Cyprus Hasan Piro

Greenland Teller Mortensen
Tajikistan Eller Aknazarov
Northern Cyprus Hüseyin Amcaoğlu
Northern Cyprus Serhan Önet

Kyrgyzstan Ulan Riskulov
Northern Cyprus Hamis Çakır
Northern Cyprus Derviş Kolcu
Zanzibar Sale Juma

Northern Cyprus Ertaç Taşkıran
Zanzibar Muhammed Seyf Muhammed

Scorers

Trivia

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Afghanistan has withdrawn from the tournament". Official ELF Cup website. Retrieved November 14, 2006.
  2. ^ Steve Menary (October 2006). "Worlds apart". World Soccer Magazine. p. 105.
  3. ^ "The alternative World Cup". BBC Online. November 7, 2006. Retrieved November 7, 2006.
  4. ^ "В поисках признания". football.ua.

External links

  • (in English) Official site
  • (in Turkish) ELF Cup kicks off
  • (in English) News about the Tibetan team Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
  • (in English) Pictures from the tournament
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