FIFA to mediate in Cyprus row

World soccer's governing body FIFA will hold high-level talks on Thursday aimed at ending more than 50 years of deadlock in Cypriot football.

Convened by FIFA president Sepp Blatter, the meeting will involve delegates from the divided island's official football association as well as officials from the unofficial Cyprus Turkish football association.

Turkish Cypriot teams were involved in the founding of the Cypriot FA in 1934 but withdrew from the island's unified league in 1955 as disputes between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities worsened.

Following the establishment of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot enclave, a statelet recognised only by Ankara, teams and players based in the area have found themselves unable to participate in official international matches.

"We want to leave no stone unturned in our efforts to resolve this problem," FIFA's director of international relations Jerome Champagne told Reuters on Wednesday.

"We are not so preposterous as to believe that football can solve everything, make peace or destroy racism but there are thousands of examples where football has played a part, such as with the acceptance of Arab and Palestinian players in the Israeli national team.

"Our overall aim is to promote football everywhere in the world and right now the Turkish Cypriot players are suffering from not being able to play outside their home, although they do have a strong domestic league."

The Cypriot FA insisted ahead of Thursday's meeting that any agreement would have to be based on Turkish Cypriots joining their organisation.

"If they join the Cyprus FA we can discuss the unification of football," vice-president Elias Pitsillides told Reuters on Wednesday.

"They must be registered as clubs as the other clubs and submit an application with their regulations which the board of directors will examine for approval and apply to the club regulator."

The Cyprus Turkish FA has repeatedly rejected calls to submit to the official organisation, arguing that the Cypriot FA does not represent their region.

FIFA's own statutes ensure that a separate Turkish Cypriot FA will not be up for discussion at Thursday's meeting which will be opened by Blatter and chaired by FIFA and UEFA vice-president Geoff Thompson.

"Article 10 of our statutes says that any football association may become a member of FIFA provided that it represents a country which is an independent state recognised by the international community," Champagne said.

"We are football people and it is clear we cannot go faster than the music but what we can do is check whether there is some football solution.

"Thursday's meeting could last just half an hour if it erupts along the old political stances or it could really open a process towards a solution. Until the meeting starts it is impossible to say which way it will go."