ConIFA World Cup Sápmi 2014 - A Football World Cup with a Difference

Preparations are underway for the forthcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup to be held in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July.  Meanwhile in Sápmi a different soccer World Cup is underway. It is the ConIFA (Confederation of Independent Football Associations) 2014 inaugural World Cup, which sees states who are unaffiliated with FIFA, stateless people and minorities competing. ConIFA is their umbrella association. Sápmi is the name of the cultural region that is traditional home to the Sami people (sometimes called Lapps or Laplanders in English). It is a region that stretches across the northern parts of four countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.

Twelve teams are taking part in the tournament from 1st – 8th June: Sápmi, Ellan Vannin (Mannin/Isle of Man), South Ossetia, Occitania, Kurdistan, Padania, Arameans Suryoye, Nagorno-Karabkh, Abkhazia, Darfur, Tamil Eelam, Countea de Nissa. Here are the latest results and the scheduled matches for the tournament. The City of Östersund will also be hosting a festival celebrating the cultural diversity of the teams involved to run parallel with the event. Needless to say I will be supporting Ellan Vannin/Mannin to win the tournament.

As for the other World Cup coming up in Brazil later this month? Well no teams from the Celtic nations are playing there this time so I can stay strictly neutral!