The Cyprus Football Association (CFA; el, Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Ποδοσφαίρου (ΚΟΠ), Kypriakí Omospondía Podosfaírou (KOP)) is the governing body of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

and is based in

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

. It organizes the football championships, whose top league is the Cypriot First Division. It also organizes the

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club team ...

, the Cypriot Super Cup and the Cypriot national football team. Cyprus Football Association is also responsible for organizing all the

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...

competitions, like the Cypriot Futsal league, the

Cypriot Futsal Cup The Cypriot Futsal Cup () is the annual cup competition for Cypriot futsal teams. It was founded in 1999 and is organized by the Cyprus Football Association. The competition is played under UEFA and FIFA rules. It is currently open to the teams o ...

and the Cypriot Futsal Super Cup. Organized football was introduced to Cyprus early in the 20th century by the British. Initially played in the island's schools, it proved hugely popular and a number of clubs were duly formed. As football became established, the clubs were united in agreeing that an official body was needed to regulate the sport. On 23 September 1934, the Cyprus Football Association was founded by the following eight clubs: AEL Limassol, Anorthosis Famagusta,

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

Aris Limassol Aris Limassol (Greek: ''Άρης Λεμεσού'') is a Cypriot football club based in Limassol and one of the founder members of Cyprus Football Association. The club's colours are green, black and white, and their home is the Tsirion Stadium. ...

, EPA Larnaca,

Olympiakos Nicosia Olympiakos Nicosia ( el, Ολυμπιακός Λευκωσίας, ''Olympiakos Lefkosias'') is a football club based in Nicosia, Cyprus and competes in the Cypriot First Division. The club was founded in 1931, and is a founding member of the Cy ...

Lefkoşa Türk Spor Kulübü Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaoria ...

and

Trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

. After Cyprus Football Association's establishment football began to be played on an official basis with the CFA organizing various championships for its member clubs. It became

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

member in 1948 and

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

member in 1962. In 2007, Cyprus Football Association moved to its new headquarters in Nicosia. The opening ceremony was attended by UEFA president Michel Platini, and the president of Cyprus,

Tassos Papadopoulos Efstathios "Tassos" Nikolaou Papadopoulos ( el, Ευστάθιος (Τάσσος) Νικολάου Παπαδόπουλος; 7 January 1934 – 12 December 2008) was a Cypriot politician and barrister who served as the fifth president of Cyp ...

. Over the last decade more and more teams often criticize the organisation about setting up fixed games and having biased referees at fixtures. Most of the football fans in Cyprus dislike the organisation mostly because their own teams criticize the association. The teams and fans often exaggerate referee mistakes although some so called mistakes do raise questions.

Notable people

Chris Georgiades Chris Georgiades is a Cypriot businessman. From 14 January 2009 he is the president of Anorthosis Famagusta F.C., a Cypriot football club from the town of Famagusta. He was also general secretary of the Cyprus Football Association The Cyprus Fo ...

References

External links

Official Website
at UEFA.com

at UEFA.org

at FIFA.com {{Sports governing bodies in Cyprus

Association Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

Sports organizations established in 1934 Sport in Nicosia