Former South African president Nelson Mandela gave the World Cup the ultimate pre-tournament boost on Tuesday when his family declared the 91-year-old anti-Apartheid icon would be among the crowds when the event kicks off.
As the country put the finishing touches to preparations, rolling out the continent’s first high-speed rail link and unveiling plans to bus fans from stadium to stadium, the announcement about Mandela removed one of the biggest worries for organizers who are desperate for him to attend.
Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, who acts as the family’s spokesman, had previously said that his grandfather was too frail to make such an appearance.
However, he told reporters that he would attend the opener tomorrow at Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium, albeit only briefly.
“He will come and greet the fans ... before he retires to his home,” Zwelivelile Mandela said. “We’re trying to see how long he will stay at the stadium. At least 10 to 15 minutes.”
Sello Hating, a spokesman for the Nelson Mandela Foundation, confirmed that “Mr Mandela has expressed an interest to attend the game,” although he said that he would only make a final decision on the day.
Danny Jordaan, the chief executive of the local organizing committee, said it would be the icing on the cake if Mandela did turn up.
“It will be just wonderful if he can make it,” he told SABC television. “We will keep our fingers crossed for that.”
Mandela’s lobbying was seen as the deciding factor six years ago when FIFA handed South Africa the right to stage the tournament for the first time on African soil.
Since then, it has faced almost endless accusations that it is no place to host the world’s biggest sporting event because it is either too crime-ridden or lacking in infrastructure.
It went at least some way toward silencing that criticism on Tuesday by opening the Gautrain, a US$3 billion rail link which can whisk passengers from Johannesburg’s main airport into the uptown Sandton district.
The 160kph link will be one of the key legacies of the tournament and is intended to show that Africa can build transport facilities to rival those of anywhere in the world.
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