Turkish Cypriot football officials say they are determined to go ahead with attempts to reunite with the Greek Cypriot body known internationally as the Cyprus Football Association (CFA), which is recognized by the European football governing body UEFA and the world football body FIFA.This is a clear blow and a threat to the autonomous character of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and has serious political repercussions. Yet in essence it is purely a sports decision by the football authorities of the Turkish Cypriots and they say this is a reform for football in Turkish Cyprus, which has been seriously neglected both by the Turkish Cypriot government and the football authorities in Turkey, who should have paid attention to the problems ages ago.The Turkish and Greek football federations split on the island in 1954 and the Turkish Cypriots completely severed ties with the Greeks after the 1974 war that split the island into Turkish Cypriot and Greek sectors. But since then the world only recognizes the CFA of the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriot federation has been progressively weakened and has threatened to become a non-entity.Of course, the decision of the Cyprus Turkish Football Association (CTFA) on Monday to inform FIFA that they had started the process to eventually become a member of the Greek Cypriot CFA has already created a political furor in the Turkish Cypriot state where the Turks are trying hard to preserve their hard earned independence as the world recognizes the Greek Cypriot administration as the sole representative of Cyprus.Yet, such moves will no doubt undermine this independence and will give the Greek Cypriots a morale booster. Of course, such things are unacceptable for many Turkish Cypriots and quite a few people in Turkey. Their reactions and anger are understandable as the issue is not only a mere sports issue but an issue over Greek Cypriot moral gains just as the sides were talking about resuming the Cyprus peace process once again.The Greek Cypriots have always been highly antagonistic and uncompromising. Such incidents unfortunately will not help them to become less antagonistic and more compromising. Greek Cypriots' enmity towards the Turks is nothing new and has been frequently displayed at every occasion. They have done everything to undermine the Turkish Cypriots and force them to bow to their domination on the island. Thus when the Turkish Cypriot federation joins the Greek Cypriot side it only encourages the Greek Cypriots to be even more uncompromising.Despite all this we have to stress that negligence on the part of the Turkish Cypriot authorities and the Turkish football authorities on the mainland have contributed to this mess. They all knew there was a brewing problem that had the potential to get out of hand. They simply turned a blind eye to the problems and now face the consequences.Turkish Football Federation boss Yıldırım Demirören has been accused of making a mess of Turkish football in recent years with his controversial decisions. Now, however, he is paying the price for neglecting the Turkish Cypriot Football Association and not attending to their problems and offering solutions that Turkey could have provided. The pleas from Turkish Cypriot football officials were disregarded. They were treated as a non-entity as they lost blood and nothing was done to remedy the situation. As they were not recognized by the world football bodies their players were recruited by mainland Turkish teams free of charge and the Turkish Cypriot football clubs suffered. Mr. Demirören could have done much to correct this injustice but he did not.