NF Board: world cup for non-FIFA countries

The NF Board is the alternative to FIFA, grouping all countries that have difficulties in enroling to FIFA, or that just don't feel ready to join FIFA. The NF Board organises its first world cup this summer in Northern Cyprus.



Most members are countries that are rejected by FIFA for political reasons: Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, Euzkadi, Sapmi/Lapland, Northern Cyprus, Kosovo, Tibet, Western Sahara, ... One of NF Board's goals is to put them in attention in order to put the political barrier under FIFA's spotlight.

Other member countries include countries that will join FIFA soon (Greenland - joins FIFA when stadium is ready, Vatican City and Tuvalu - both very likely to join as well), and a few countries that just don't feel like FIFA football yet (Monaco for example)



I for one will watch the NF Board's alternative world cup and not the official FIFA tournament. The NF Board not only includes some teams I heavily support (mainly Greenland, but also Lapland and Falklands) and I find it much more fascinating to discover all those new teams, much more interesting than another Brazil-France. I am very excited about this new tournament and hope it will become a big success and a first step for the politically-barriered countries to get FIFA attention.
Finally, I hope Greenland wins it of course.

I am lucky as well to know a guy within the NF Board committee, which is handy to get first-hand information. Website is www.nf-board.com (mind though that because of works on the site it may be off-line for a short while)

oooh arent you alternative! no i think ill stick with the regular world cup

I couldn't care less if people label me alternative or whatever. The 'official' world cup just doesn't have the teams I like in its line-up, none of those qualified, so it just offers the same old big teams who don't do the trick anymore for me. The NF Board's tournament features a few teams that I follow and heavily sympathise with, and gives the chance to discover new teams. What's wrong with that?!

On-topic: probably Zanzibar will also be in the line-up. Their FIFA application was rejected, so there's no reason for them not to enter a team.

Who are the favourites for this world cup??

The point of the World Cup is to have the best teams in the world so i dont see a point in time when it ever would have interested you

I'll be rooting for Gibraltar. It's a nice "country":).

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Originally Posted by Gerrit

it just offers the same old big teams who don't do the trick anymore for me.

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Well I hope Lapland does "the trick" for you instead :rolleyes:

I here that veteran of Lapland football, S Claus, is still their big centre half :D

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Originally Posted by gustavo

The point of the World Cup is to have the best teams in the world so i dont see a point in time when it ever would have interested you

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That ain't true. It's a global celebration of football, not just a matter of jamming together all best teams. What's the point in that? (unless you're a gloryhunter who only cares about who's the best, of course)

Lapland does 'the trick' more than Brazil: I enjoy it more to discover new teams than to always see the same ones over and over again, and I have a very strong fascination for the Arctic while I couldn't care less about most nations that enter a team in the regular World Cup. I just have not the slightest feelings of affection for those countries present at the FIFA WC, while some of the countries I always dreamed of (Greenland mainly) are in the alternative World Cup, then the choice for me is easily made. Rather an amateur game where I have emotions for a team and support a team with passion, than a pro game of two teams that leave me indifferent.



I think that Northern Cyprus will be the favourite. They have a good side that already booked some good results in friendlies and other tournaments, and they have home advantage.

Of course, and that's what makes it all so fascinating, every single team entering the competition will be a new discovery. So it's very hard to predict the results, certainly because most countries never played each other before. But that's what makes it interesting, exciting and unpredictable. Every team entering (except for the truely smallest associations like the Falklands) have a decent chance of booking good results, and the fact that it's being played and that these teams can finally show themselves to the world makes everyone a winner. The atmosphere of all teams fighting political prejudices from FIFA, will be unique.

The Vatican is likely to join FIFA!? You must be joking!

They are. They showed very big interest already, and meet all criteria. They already played Monaco in a recent past (games are being played in the Stadio Pio XII in Rome, so on Italian soil) and are likely to enter the alternative World Cup. The Vatican not only has its own FA and national side, they also have a domestic league (games are being played in Rome though because there is no ground on Vatican soil)

Surely, you can put your house on Zamunda. Akeem will be the lean striker, Semmi is the midfield general while Oha will be the big, fat centre half. Jaffe Jophur is the man primed to lead his Kingdom to glory!!:D :D

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Originally Posted by Gerrit

They are. They showed very big interest already, and meet all criteria. They already played Monaco in a recent past (games are being played in the Stadio Pio XII in Rome, so on Italian soil) and are likely to enter the alternative World Cup. The Vatican not only has its own FA and national side, they also have a domestic league (games are being played in Rome though because there is no ground on Vatican soil)

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Yep, Vatican have a great side:

Matthew; Mark; Luke; John; Simon; Andrew; Bartholomew; Thaddeus; James; Philip; Thomas.

Sub- Judas (Not Used)

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Originally Posted by Gerrit

That ain't true. It's a global celebration of football, not just a matter of jamming together all best teams. What's the point in that? (unless you're a gloryhunter who only cares about who's the best, of course)

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Surely the World Cup is a global celebration of football.

The World Cup Finals is the end of this celebration.

FFS lads, if you don't care about countries that are less big and glorious than Brazil and Argentina, please make your own thread instead of ridiculising the ones (like me) that are genuinely interested in this alternative WC.



And to stop the mockery on Vatican City: here's the line-ups of their team: http://pub43.bravenet.com/forum/3654457278/show/493932
No popes, holy people or devils involved. A normal, regular team like any other team.

Seems like they're a load of italians.
Thought it'd be a load of student priests from all over the world.
Are Greenland gonna compete in the North American federation or what?
I presume there was no qualifiers for this.

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Originally Posted by gustavo

oooh arent you alternative! no i think ill stick with the regular world cup

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Originally Posted by twoenz

Surely the World Cup is a global celebration of football.

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Leave him alone. This is the kind of tripe from Gerrit, which I ran out of patience with ages ago. He doesn't even support his own country, so who is he to say what other national teams should/n't do?? We should leave him to debate his own WC to himself. There's a better place for barmy views like that though, i.e. the ignore list.

So just because I support another team than the country I was born in (which I emotionally never considered as "my" country) I lose the right to express an honest opinion?

Secondly, where am I saying what other people or teams or FAs should do? I do support this new federation, as I have a deep interest in some of the teams and as I believe there is a need for something like the NF Board. I do not oblige people to share my interest, nor do I tell them they should even care. But opening a topic just to let the world show NF Board exists, and to offer fellow interested people a place to exchange views ; what is wrong with that?

I'm sorry, but your comment sound a bit like "just walk in the line" to me. Just following the mass and judging anything outside of that mass. Well, I don't care, because this initiative is something I (and more fellow football fans than you'd think) believe in. Maybe if you'd look a bit deeper than the surface you'd see that this organisation is a whole group of people who all share the same views and promote the 'football for all' ideology without interference of political bias. Just tell m what is wrong with our own place in the shadow of the big World Cup, and why we would not be allowed to discuss it? No one forces you to join the debate, no one forces you to care about the NF Board, the least one can expect though is a bit of respect for those who do.

And please don't counter this thread with nonsense about my preference for Norway as a football team, because this only proves my point of following the mass without second thought: "I am born in that little piece of ground surrounded by imaginary lines, so I have to just accept is as 'my' country and support everything that comes from it, regardless of how corrupt the FA is". Sorry, that has first of all nothing to do with this thread, secondly I think it makes no sense (but let's just say the latter is a different opinion we have)

BTW- How do you qualify to play for the Vatican? Do you have to be born there?:D

What's the chances that Bishop Casey's young fella will lead them to full World Cup glory in about 15 years???!!!

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Originally Posted by mypost

Leave him alone. This is the kind of tripe from Gerrit, which I ran out of patience with ages ago. He doesn't even support his own country, so who is he to say what other national teams should/n't do?? We should leave him to debate his own WC to himself. There's a better place for barmy views like that though, i.e. the ignore list.

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You're out of line mypost. Show more tolerance to other people's views in this forum.

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Originally Posted by Snoop Drog

What's the chances that Bishop Casey's young fella will lead them to full World Cup glory in about 15 years???!!!

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Less of that Snoop Drog, this is not the place whether you're having the craic or not.

I love to hear about ALL footie, whether it's the big guns or in places where people struggle to keep the game alive.

Let's face it, it must be a helluva task to run and fund football competitions in places like The Shetlands, Greenland etc and even run international competitions for the smaller nations.

Where do they get the money to do it???

Way to go Gerrit. There's room for all parts of the game to be discussed.:)

Remember lads, I remember attending Irish matches when 6,000 turned up (Ireland v Czechoslovakia in the 60s)and when the game here was totally invisible and nobody gave a sh!t about our national side.

Those of us old fcukers who worked to promote the game here in the post 1966 World Cup boom, fighting general (and press) apathy and raw bigotry and ignorance know exactly what the good folks in the small countries are going through.

Here's one example, in the early 1970s there were FIVE second level schools in ONE Irish nationwide schools competition. Now, there are hundreds of Primary and second level schools involved with loads of (national and local) competitions with thousands of teams involved.