Nicosia: The Cyprus Football Association (CFA) has reached out to the Spanish Football Federation, seeking their intervention regarding a proposed training camp organized by the Barcelona academy in the Turkish-occupied regions of Cyprus.
According to Cyprus News Agency, the CFA has taken prompt action in collaboration with UEFA to address the situation. Haris Loizides, the CFA President, has officially written to his Spanish counterpart, urging him to prevent the camp from taking place in the occupied areas. Loizides emphasized that such an event contradicts the existing legal and regulatory framework.
The CFA's correspondence calls on Barcelona to reconsider their plans. It suggests relocating the camp to a legally compliant venue within the government-controlled areas of the Republic of Cyprus or canceling the event altogether. The letter was dispatched on Monday morning and has been forwarded to UEFA and Barcelona.
The backdrop to this issue is the unlawful declaration of independence by a breakaway entity in the Turkish-occupied areas of Cyprus on November 15, 1983. This act, following the Turkish military invasion of 1974, resulted in the ongoing occupation of one-third of Cyprus's territory. The UN Security Council and the international community have condemned this declaration as legally null and void.