THE KURDISH GLOBE, RUDAW (Kurdistan)
ERBIL – While all eyes turn to the European Football Championship in Poland and Ukraine, another little known soccer World Cup quietly found its new owner over the weekend.
The Kurdistan soccer team became VIVA World Cup champions after beating Northern Cyprus 2-1 in the finals, held at the Franso Hariri Stadium in the northern Iraqi province of Erbil, the Kurdish Globe reports.
The VIVA World Cup brings together soccer teams unaffiliated with FIFA, the international governing body of soccer associations. The teams in question play for both regional pride and, in some cases, as a show of their aspirations for autonomy and nationhood, the Kurdish newspaper Rudaw reports.
This year, the participating teams in the tournament included — in addition to host winner Kurdistan — Zanzibar, Provence, Occitania, Darfur, Raetia, Northern Cyprus, Western Sahara and Tamil Eelam.
Watch the goals followed by Kurdistan’s victory celebration in the video below.