2010 to follow Madiba's example

2007-07-12 14:19

Cape Town - The 2010 Soccer World Cup must encourage the values Nelson Mandela fought for, local organising committee head Danny Jordaan said in Cape Town on Thursday.

Jordaan was speaking at a media briefing about a charity soccer match taking place in the city next Wednesday to celebrate Nelson Mandela's 89th birthday.

The soccer match, called '90 minutes for Mandela' will see star-studded Rest of the World and Africa teams play each other.

Jordaan said the match would not just be about celebrating Mandela as an individual, but would also be about celebrating all the things he dedicated his life.

These were causes like democracy, human rights, non-racialism and common humanity, Jordaan said.

He said these values were something the game of soccer must represent.

"Racism is actually anti-football; in football the only thing that matters is the colour of your shirt," he said.

Also speaking at the conference Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool said the match next week needed to encompass what message South Africa would send out when it hosted the 2010 World Cup.

"The abiding legacy of the African World Cup in 2010 (must be) that soccer came here to rediscover its soul, to reconnect with values of non-racialism, of human rights and everything that Nelson Mandela stands for, that South Africa is known for and that Africa is poised for," he said.

Rasool also urged Capetonians to attend the event.

"We don't know how many opportunities we will get to pay tribute to one of the greatest human beings that South Africa produced, on the eve of one of the greatest events that South Africa will host on behalf of Africa," he said.

As of Thursday morning, 7 000 tickets for the Mandela-tribute match had been sold.

Newlands stadium, where the match is being held, has a capacity of over 50 000.

Some of the soccer players who have confirmed their presence at the match are Brazilian football legend Pele, Cameroonian player Samuel Eto'o, French player Christian Karembeu and South African stars Lucas Radebe and Mark Fish.

At the conference Jordaan emphasised the message of non-racialism the diversity of the teams playing in next Wednesday's match would represent.

However, in response to a question, he said Marco Materazzi and Zinedine Zidane who were infamously involved in a head-butting altercation at the last World Cup final would not be playing together.

They will be absent, Rasool quipped because "the one has a sore head, the other has a bad chest".

- SAPA