Fifa hopes Madiba will attend World Cup opener

Fifa president Sepp Blatter said on Wednesday he hopes Nelson Mandela will attend the opening of the Soccer World Cup next week, even though his family has said that he is too old to go to the stadium.

“The right legacy for this event here in South Africa will be, let’s celebrate Africa’s humanity. First of all, who is the most charismatic humanist in the world still alive? Nelson Mandela,” Blatter told reporters in Soccer City, venue for the opener in Johannesburg.

“We do hope so that he will be at the opening of the World Cup here in this stadium, and this will be the highlight,” Blatter added.

South Africa’s first black president turns 92 next month, and rarely appears in public.

His grandson, Mandla Mandela, said in late April that the Nobel Peace Prize winner would watch the opening match at home.

“My grandfather at this age is very elderly and we are not trying to intensify his programme,” the grandson told Agence France-Presse during a trip to India. “He’s said he would prefer to be at home in the rural countryside to spend time at the farm.”

Nelson Mandela made his last public appearance on February 11, when he visited Parliament to mark the 20th anniversary of his release from prison.—AFP