ELF Cup
Encyclopedia
The ELF Cup is an international football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 tournament organised by the KTFF
Cyprus Turkish Football Federation
The Cyprus Turkish Football Federation is the top division of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Football Federation, which is not recognised by other federations]...

, a member of the NF-Board. Among the participants are fellow NF-Board teams, and - in the inaugural 2006 tournament - FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

 member teams from the Asian Football Confederation
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football in Asia. It has 46 member countries, mostly located on the Asian continent. However, due to the disputed boundary of Europe and Asia, nations such as Russia and Turkey which are located mostly in geographic Asia are...

.

The Inaugural Tournament

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
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football in Asia. It has 46 member countries, mostly located on the Asian continent. However, due to the disputed boundary of Europe and Asia, nations such as Russia and Turkey which are located mostly in geographic Asia are...

 - Tajikistan
Tajikistan national football team
The Tajikistan national football team represents Tajikistan in association football and is controlled by the Tajikistan National Football Federation, the governing body for football in Tajikistan. Tajikistan's home ground is Pamir Stadium in Dushanbe....

, Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan national football team
The Kyrgyzstan national football team is the national team of Kyrgyzstan and is controlled by the Football Federation of Kyrgyz Republic.-History:...

 and Afghanistan
Afghanistan national football team
The Afghanistan national football team is the national team of Afghanistan and is controlled by the Afghanistan Football Federation. The national team was founded in 1922 that joined FIFA in 1948 and the AFC in 1954...

. However, under pressure from FIFA, Afghanistan withdrew from the tournament and was replaced by Gǎgǎuzia. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan sent representatives from their futsal
Futsal
Futsal is a variant of association football that is played on a smaller pitch and mainly played indoors. Its name is a portmanteau of the Portuguese futebol de salão and the Spanish fútbol de salón , which can be translated as "hall football" or "indoor football"...

 national teams.

Controversy

Initially, it was announced that the North Cyprus were to hold the inaugural VIVA World Cup
Viva World Cup
The VIVA World Cup is an international football tournament organized by the New Federation Board, an umbrella association for nations unaffiliated with FIFA, planned to be held every two years.-Inauguration:...

 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
Cyprus Turkish Football Federation
The Cyprus Turkish Football Federation is the top division of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Football Federation, which is not recognised by other federations]...

 led to the tournament being taken away and granted to Occitania
Occitania
Occitania , also sometimes lo País d'Òc, "the Oc Country"), is the region in southern Europe where Occitan was historically the main language spoken, and where it is sometimes still used, for the most part as a second language...

. The NF-Board claim that the new government of the North Cyprus insisted on restricting which nations could and could not take part. The KTFF, however, claim that the NF-Board made unreasonable financial demands.

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.

Competitors

- representing the Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...

.

- an autonomous region of Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...

.

- an autonomous region of Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, and nominally under the control of the Danish Football Association
Danish Football Association
The Danish Football Association is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of the Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues and the men's and women's national teams. It is based in the city of Brøndby and is a founding member of both FIFA...

 and is a NF-Board member.

- a member of the AFC
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football in Asia. It has 46 member countries, mostly located on the Asian continent. However, due to the disputed boundary of Europe and Asia, nations such as Russia and Turkey which are located mostly in geographic Asia are...

 and FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

, represented here by their futsal team
Kyrgyzstan national futsal team
The Kyrgyzstan national futsal team represents Kyrgyzstan in international futsal competitions and is controlled by Football Federation of Kyrgyz Republic.- AFC Futsal Championship :* 1999 - Group stage* 2000 - Group stage* 2001 - Group stage...

.

- a member of the AFC
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football in Asia. It has 46 member countries, mostly located on the Asian continent. However, due to the disputed boundary of Europe and Asia, nations such as Russia and Turkey which are located mostly in geographic Asia are...

 and FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

, represented here by their futsal team
Tajikistan national futsal team
The Tajikistan national futsal team represents Tajikistan in international futsal competitions....

.

- an autonomous region of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, fiercely independent in exile and is a NF-Board member.

- the hosts, an internationally-unrecognised state and is a NF-Board member.

- historically a part of Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

, but with membership of the CAF
Confederation of African Football
The Confederation of African Football is the administrative and controlling body for African association football.CAF represents the national football associations of Africa, runs continental, national, and club competitions, and controls the prize money, regulations and media rights to those...

 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
2006 ELF Cup squads
This article lists the confirmed squads for the ELF Cup tournament held in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, between November 19 and November 25, 2006.- Gagauzia:Head coach: Stepan Malacilli*Anatoli Arabadji*Vitali Bragutav*Emil Gulu*Serghei Iabanji...

.

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
3 2 0 1 7 2
5
6
3 1 2 0 3 2
1
5
3 1 1 1 3 2
1
4
3 0 1 2 2 9
1


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Group B

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
3 3 0 0 20 1
19
9
3 2 0 1 3 6
6
3 1 0 2 5 7
3
3 0 0 3 0 14
0

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Semi-Finals

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3rd Place Playoff

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Final

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2006 ELF Cup Winners
North Cyprus
First Title

Golden Team

Goalkeepers Defenders Midfielders Forwards

  Hasan Piro

  Teller Mortensen

  Eller Aknazarov

  Hüseyin Amcaoğlu

  Serhan Önet

  Ulan Riskulov

  Hamis Çakır

  Derviş Kolcu

  Sale Juma

  Ertaç Taşkıran

  Muhammed Seyf Muhammed

Scorers

6 goals
Ertaç Taşkıran

5 goals
Hamis Çakır

4 goals
Ulan Riskulov

3 goals
Jenish Mamatov Daler Aknazarov Kemal Uçaner Ediz Çukurovalı Muhammed Seif Muhammed

2 goals
Piotr Marcov Marlen Akimov Mihail Sundeev Derviş Kolcu Sabri Selden Coşkun Ulusoy
1 goal
İrfan Ametov Ablâmetov Arsen Ebubekirov Fevziy Halil Hayredinov Emiratlı Ruslan Denis Ceavdari Niklas Kreutzmann Pelle Mortensen Kristian Sandgreen Mustafayev Arsen Dilshat Kadyrov Vadim Kondratkov Sundeev Mihail Sergey Almukhamedov

Firdavs Faizullaev Atkun Arıkbuka Yasin Kansu Ekrem Keleşzade Hasan Sapsızoğlu Rajab Rashid Omar Suleiman Kassim Suleiman

Own goals Rizvan Abıltarov (playing against TRNC)

External links

Official site ELF Cup kicks off News about the Tibetan team Pictures from the tournament
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