In April 2005, the NF-Board announced that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus had been chosen to host the inaugural VIVA World Cup, having successfully hosted the KTFF 50th Anniversary Cup, a tournament to celebrate 50 years of the Cyprus Turkish Football Federation, featuring fellow NF-Board member Sápmi and FIFA-unaffiliated Kosovo.

In spring 2005, the new government elected in the Cyprus Turkish Football Federation (KTFF) was keen to foster relations with other nations.

The NF-Board claim that the government of Ferdi Sabit Soyer insisted on restricting which teams could and could not take part in order to head off potential political arguments.

However, the failure of West Papua and Southern Cameroon to attend the NF-Board General Assembly in September 2006, and logistical problems facing the Romani, threw new doubt on the tournament, which looked as though it might go ahead with just three teams.

By the end of the week, Sápmi had triumphed, scoring 42 goals in their three games, and lifting the first VIVA World Cup trophy, destroying Monaco 21–1 in the final.

The Gozitans hosted the tournament at the newly refurbished artificial turf ground of 2009-10 Champions Sannat Lions, as well as the 4,000 capacity Gozo Stadium in Xewkija.

From May 31 to June 6, teams from Padania, Kurdistan, Provence, Occitania, Two Sicilies and Gozo competed for the Nelson Mandela Trophy.