An amateur football cup final in London which is set to see a primarily Turkish Cypriot team face off against a primarily Greek Cypriot team has been hailed as an “example for Cyprus” by Turkish Cypriot opposition party CTP representative Sami Ozuslu.

Mehmetcik FC are set to face Olympia FC London in Wednesday night’s London Sunday Challenge Cup final, with Ozuslu describing the fixture as “an important example for Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot youth to partake in sports together”.

He also pointed out that in playing a competitive bicommunal match, “Cypriots living in England have succeeded in doing what we cannot achieve in Cyprus, our own island”.

“These and similar examples in London are extremely important in terms of reminding people that sports should be treated in a way which will bring rapprochement in intercommunal relations and increase trust in our country, Cyprus,” he said.

He added that the example should be built on in Cyprus firstly through the establishment of a bicommunal technical committee on bicommunal sports, which he said must “work actively”.

The CTP, he said, “invites all Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot political parties and stakeholders of sports to read the message of the final between Mehmetcik and Olympia and to highlight the unifying role of sports”.

Wednesday night’s final will kick off at 7.30pm local time at Wingate & Finchley FC’s Summers Lane.