The chairman of Enfield Town believes the CONIFA World Football Cup is an exciting opportunity for the club to raise its profile on the wider football map.

The tournament for states, minorities, stateless people and regions unaffiliated to FIFA gets under way on Thursday when the Queen Elizabeth Stadium II holds the first two of 10 fixtures – Abkhazia vs Tibet at noon followed by Northern Cyprus against Karpatalya at 3pm – culminating in the final on Saturday, June 9.

Enfield chairman Paul Reed said: “I am delighted that the Queen Elizabeth II Stadium has been chosen to host some CONIFA World Cup matches this year, including the final.

“This will be an exciting venture for the club, not just from a financial perspective but also in terms of spreading the word about our club and what it has to offer for the local community.

“It should be a fantastic event and we hope that a number of people will enjoy the facilities and matchday experience the club has to offer and return to watch some Enfield Town matches in the near future.”

Tournament director Paul Watson is equally pleased matches are being played at the ground and told the club website: “One of the reasons we chose Enfield Town was because their ethos of being supporter-owned matches ours.

“It meant a lot to us that the club approached us, because we are keen to preserve the spirit of the tournament. We favour the grassroots approach to football and clubs like this are where it lives on. It’s completely in line with our values of giving the game back to the people as distinct from corporate entities. To come to Enfield Town where the local community will rally behind the tournament seemed totally sensible.”