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Soccer, rugby teams play on same day for Mandela
[July 02, 2013] JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- South Africa's sports ministry says the national soccer and rugby teams will play on the same day at the former World Cup showpiece stadium in Soweto to honor Nelson Mandela.
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South Africa's soccer team will face Burkina Faso in an exhibition match and the Springboks will start their Rugby Championship campaign against Argentina, both on Aug. 17 at FNB Stadium -formerly known as Soccer City. The Ministry of Sport and Recreation said Tuesday that Mandela, the 94-year-old former president who is critically ill in hospital, is "the primary inspiration behind this initiative." The anti-apartheid leader has strong ties to South African sport having inspired the rugby team when it won the World Cup in 1995 and also the soccer team a year later when it lifted the African Cup of Nations trophy. |
