Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa and a Nobel laureate, will be present at the opening ceremony of World Cup Football 2010 on 11 June at the Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg. Nkosi Mandela, his grandson, has confirmed that the legendary leader would attend the grand event and greet the people.
However, Nelson Mandela would not be able to stay and enjoy the whole 90 minutes of the opening match between host South Africa and Mexico because it cold be harmful for his health to stay outside for a long time as it is winter in South Africa.
His grandson Nkosi Mandela said to the media, “The current discussion is that we afford him time to come in whether it is ten minutes or 15 minutes to walk around the stadium and wave at the crowd. But I think to have him sit there an entire 90 minutes of soccer would really impact his state of health because it is winter after all, so we have to guard against that. As South Africans we wish him to live for many more years to come.”
Nelson Mandela was instrumental in bringing the World Cup in South Africa. He promoted South Africa heavily as a host of this mega event and it helped the country to win the bid, and thus, becoming the first country in Africa to organize a World Cup tournament. South Africa’s current president, Jacob Zuma, has recently dedicated the World Cup to Nelson Mandela.
Football fans around the world are now eagerly waiting for the beginning of World Cup Football 2010. Host South Africa is going to give a surprise through the grand opening ceremony of the tournament on Friday.
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