There are 29 sports federations in

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, island of Cyprus. It is List of states with limited recognition, recognis ...

and 13,838 people registered in them as of 2008.

Taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art which is split into many different styles including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai, and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practic ...

kurash Köräş (also kuresh, koresh, küreş, güreş and similar variants) refers to a number of folk wrestling styles practiced in Central Asia. Köräş wrestlers (Turkish:Güreş, ''köräşçelär''; , ''küreščiler'') use towels to hold t ...

is the most popular sport with 6054 athletes. It is followed by

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

(2240 athletes),

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

(1150 athletes) and

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

(1017 athletes). Due to the lack of international recognition, Northern Cyprus is not a member of some international sporting bodies. Some Northern Cyprus sport clubs participate in Turkey's sport leagues. For example: the Fast Break Sport Club, in Turkey's Men's Basketball Regional League; the Beşparmak Sport Club, in Turkey's Handball Premier League; and the Lefka European University, in Turkey's Table-tennis Super League. The international record for swimming 75 km between Turkey and Northern Cyprus belongs to Turkish national Alper Sunaçoğlu (completed in 26 hours and 15 minutes).

International participation and achievements

Badminton

Badminton Federation of North Cyprus
is an observer member of

World Badminton Federation The World Badminton Federation is a former badminton organization, it was founded in February 1978 and ceased its operation on May 26, 1981, after it merged with the International Badminton Federation (now known as Badminton World Federation or BWF ...

and European Badminton Confederation.

Basketball

* The men's basketball Super League operates since 1981. * In May 2015, the national basketball team played two friendly matches against

Abkhazia Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...

, losing the first one by 59–76 and winning the second one by 59–47. Both matches were played in Northern Cyprus. * In April 2017, Yakın Doğu Üniversitesi became champions in the

FIBA EuroCup Women The EuroCup Women (officially ''FIBA EuroCup Women'') is the second-level basketball competition with teams from associate members of FIBA Europe. It succeeds the Ronchetti Cup. Unlike the EuroCup Basketball, EuroCup Men, the competition is entir ...

. Since

is not a member of FIBA, Northern Cypriot Yakın Doğu Üniversitesi registered in Turkey's basketball league to compete in FIBA Eurocup.

Billiards

Billiards Federation of North Cyprus (BFNC)
is a member of the

European Pocket Billiard Federation The European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) is the European governing body for pocket billiards. EPBF is the European regional affiliate member of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA). Events The federation holds the European Championship ...

(EPBF). The national teams of Cyprus and Northern Cyprus played each other in an international sport tournament for the first time in the 2010 European billiards championships in Kielce, Poland. The country, North Cyprus, is also a member of World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) and Union Mondial de Billard. * 2014 Dynamic Billard European Championships (with 32 participating countries) was hosted by Northern Cyprus.

Bocce

* Bocce Federation of North Cyprus is a member of the International Bocce Association.

Bodybuilding

* Bodybuilding and Fitness: 2010: Yakup Çavuşgil became World Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (WBFF) champion in the championship in Canada.

Darts

* The team of

Darts Federation became third in darts championship in Spain.

EasyKart

* EasyKart Federation of North Cyprus is a member of the International EasyKart Federation. 2008: Zeka Özteknik became International Easykart champion in 125cc.

Football

* In 1975, FIFA general-secretary Helmut Kaser granted permission for

Cyprus Turkish Football Federation The Cyprus Turkish Football Association (, KTFF) is the governing body of football in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Established on 29 October 1955, during British colonial rule in Cyprus, it was affiliated with the N.F.-Board ...

to play friendly internationals against FIFA countries, but not competitive games; this permission was abolished in 1983 when

was declared. * Th
Turkish Cypriot Football Federation
administers a football league in Northern Cyprus. * Northern Cyprus is among the countries listed by the

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

Working Committee on Small Nations. * Northern Cyprus is a member of Confederation of Independent Football Associations (ConIFA). * In September 2014, Demetris Vasiliou became the first Greek Cypriot football player to sign for a team in the Northern Cypriot league. He plays for Değirmenlik (team of

Kythrea Kythrea ( or ; ) is a small town in Cyprus, 10 km northeast of Nicosia. Kythrea is under the '' de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. History Kythrea is situated near the ancient Greek city-kingdom of Chytroi, which was founded by Chy ...

). Greek Cypriot nationalists labelled him a "traitor" and surrounded his home, preventing him from attending his first match with the team. Vasiliou said he received death threats. He also lost his job as youth coach of

Omonia Aradippou Omonia Aradippou () is a Cypriot professional football club based in the Municipality of Aradippou, a settlement in the outskirts of the city of Larnaca. The club was founded on 4 April 1929 and currently they are the Champions of the Cypr ...

. *

CONIFA The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) is the international governing body for association football teams that are non-FIFA international football, not affiliated with FIFA. Competitions Men's competitions * CONIFA Wo ...

Euro 2017 will be hosted by

Football Tennis

* Football Tennis Association of North Cyprus is a member of the Federation International de Footballtennis Association. Northern Cyprus placed 6th in the 9th World Footballtennis Championship * The 2011 European FootballTennis Championship was hosted by

. * The 2014 World FootballTennis Championship was hosted by

in 19–24 October.

Gymnastics

Turkish Cypriot Gymnastic Federation
administers the related activities in the country.

Handball

Handball Federation of Northern Cyprus
administers a league in the country.

Shooting

* Shooting: TRNC Shooting Federation participated in Airgun Championships 2011 in Bisley, UK and the team became 2nd.

Martial arts

Federation of North Cyprus
is a member of Global Taekwon-do Federation (GTF). * The 9th GTF World Championship in 2013 was hosted by North Cyprus. * The headquarters of "Eurasia Taekwondo Federations Union" is in

Kyrenia Kyrenia is a city on the northern coast of Cyprus, noted for its historic harbour and castle. It is under the '' de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. While there is evidence showing that the wider region of Kyrenia has been populated before, ...

. * Judo, Hapkido and Kickboxing federation of Northern Cyprus became a member of

International Sport Kickboxing Association The ISKA (originally International Sport Karate Association, later also called the International Sport Kickboxing Association) is international bodies regulating sport karate and kickboxing matches. It is based in the United States. It was est ...

(ISKA) in 2011. * 14th Euro-Asia Taekwon-Do Championships and First World Budo Martialarts Championships will be organized in Northern Cyprus in 2014. * Northern Cyprus participated to the World Kickboxing Championship organized by International Sport Kickboxing Association (ISKA) in 2015.

Tennis

*Eliz Maloney Yorganci fro
Tennis Federation of Northern Cyprus
became champion in the 2014 UK Masters 14U Tennis Tournament.

Volleyball

Volleyball Federation of Northern Cyprus
administers a league in the country.

Wrestling

is an associate a member of

United World Wrestling United World Wrestling (UWW) is the international governing body for the sport of Wrestling; its duties include overseeing wrestling at the World Championships and Olympics. It presides over international competitions for various forms of wrest ...

, previously known as FILA.] The UWW Bureau members raised no objection to the application of

in 2008.

Multi-sport events

* On 18 May 2010 Northern Cyprus became a member of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Association, Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation (ISSF).North Cyprus became a member of ISSF
NC is a member of ISSF.

Membership of international sports federations

Northern Cyprus has gained membership of the following federations:

References

{{Sport in Europe