Football match for Mandela's 89th
Some of the world's best ever football players are to take part in a match for Nelson Mandela's 89th birthday later.

Brazil's Pele and Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o are to play, as an African team takes on the Rest of the World to raise money for the fight against HIV/Aids.

Fifa is also due to confer honorary membership on the Makana FA - set up by prisoners on Robben Island.

Mr Mandela spent 27 years in prison, before becoming South Africa's first black president in 1994.

The birthday of one of the world's most respected political leaders is a major national event every year in South Africa.

Mr Mandela, fondly known by his clan name Madiba, is spending the first part of his birthday at home with friends and relatives.

Former US President Jimmy Carter and UN chief Kofi Annan joined the veteran anti-apartheid campaigner to launch a council of global "elders" to try to find solutions to "some of the world's toughest problems" such as Aids, poverty and conflict.

"They don't have careers to build, elections to win and constituencies to please," Mr Mandela said of the group, known as The Elders.

'Beautiful game'

The 90 Minutes for Mandela match kicks off in Cape Town, near Robben Island at 2000 local time (1800 GMT).

Mr Mandela used to watch the Makana FA games from his cell window, until the authorities built a wall to stop him seeing the matches, reports the AP news agency.


MANDELA'S LANDMARKS
1918 - Born in the Eastern Cape
1956 - Charged with high treason, but charges dropped
1964 - Charged again, sentenced to life
1990 - Freed from prison
1993 - Wins Nobel Peace Prize
1994 - Elected first black president
1999 - Steps down as leader

"During the dark years of our incarceration, the association drew together all the prisoners on the island around the beautiful game of soccer," Mr Mandela said on Tuesday.

"In this way it helped uphold the values of tolerance, of inclusiveness and reconciliation, and of non-racialism and peace that are still dear to all of us today."

He was presented with a Fifa football shirt with the number 89.

Another former US President, Bill Clinton, is also due to open an exhibition looking at the life of Mr Mandela and fellow anti-apartheid campaigner Chief Albert Luthuli.

Mr Mandela was imprisoned for leading the struggle against white minority rule.

After leading the African National Congress to victory in South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994, he stood down after a single term as South Africa's president.

He continued to lead an active role both domestically and globally - mediating African conflicts and campaigning against HIV/ Aids - until he started to reduce his commitments in 2004.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/6904103.stm

Published: 2007/07/18 13:44:23 GMT

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