Abstract
ABSTRACT This analysis unveils the convergence of the International Federation of Association Football’s [FIFA] football reunification initiatives and the interests of global actors with an interest in solving the Cyprus problem. In 2013, at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich, Turkish-Cypriot and Greek-Cypriot football officials signed a historic provisional agreement to reunite the two communities in football. That prospect might also act as a catalyst towards the island’s political unification, and for that reason, it was welcomed by global actors for different reasons. For some, hydrocarbon exploration licencing by a united government of Cyprus would not be questioned. However, those loyal to Turkey and the Turkish-Cypriot political elite managed to thwart FIFA’s initiative to serve Turkey’s goals as a regional Power, that is, solve the Cyprus problem on its own terms and assume a role in the hydrocarbon regime in the Eastern Mediterranean.
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