Sports / Off the Field |
Pele among players lining up for Mandela match(Reuters)Updated: 2007-07-03 08:33 BERNE, Switzerland, July 2 - Pele will be among a host of former and current international players turning out for an all-star charity match to honour Nelson Mandela in Cape Town this month. World soccer's governing body FIFA on Monday named the first batch of players taking part in the game to celebrate the 89th birthday of South Africa's first black president. Cameroon's three-time African player of the year Samuel Eto'o, French 1998 World Cup winner Christian Karembeu and former European player of the year Ruud Gullit are among the other participants. "It is a great honour and pleasure for me to have been invited to participate in this tribute to Nelson Mandela, a living symbol of the fight against all forms of racism and discrimination," said Eto'o in a FIFA media release. The July 18 match, in which an Africa XI will take on a Rest of the World XI, is the second all-star game to be organised by FIFA in Mandela's honour. A similar event was staged in 1999 to mark the end of his presidency.
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