Football as a national security threat for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

This paper explores football as a national security threat for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). It reveals how a 2013 FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) initiative to reunify the Greek-Cypriot and the Turkish-Cypriot football associations failed to reach its target because it was considered an imminent threat to TRNC's national security. The substance of the threat according to the country's leaders was that international football recognition via a Turkish-Cypriot's membership to the Greek-Cypriot football association would imply their submission to Greek-Cypriot institutions when the nationalist line calls for a struggle to independently gain full international recognition in both sports and politics.