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CAF Order of Merit for Mbeki
09/09/2007 22:20 - (SA)
Cape Town - President Thabo Mbeki has dedicated the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Order of Merit Award he received on Sunday to the two young soccer players who died in road accidents last week.
Accepting the honour from CAF President Issa Hayatou at Tuynhuys, Mbeki said he was very proud to receive the award.
"I'd like to say, we should accept this award on behalf of two young Africans who died in our country - Gift Leremi who died in a car accident and Fernando Matola, a Mozambican who played in South Africa, who died with his wife and children as they returned to Mozambique.
"I think this is also an important moment to pay a tribute to them," Mbeki said.
Speaking through a French interpreter, Hayatou said the award was well deserved by Mbeki for his role in unifying soccer, and CAF admired the way "you run this country [South Africa]".
"This is our way of paying tribute to you for what you have done," he said.
The event also marked the 50th anniversary of CAF, which was founded on February 8, 1957 in Khartoum, Sudan.
South Africa was one of four founding members, along with Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan.
Turning to the 2010 Fifa World Cup, Mbeki said Friday would mark 1 000 days to the event in South Africa.
He repeated that the country was ready to present a successful tournament.
"We will leave no stone unturned to host a tournament that meets the expectations of billions of football fans around the world," Mbeki said.
- SAPA
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