Nelson Mandela: Sport pays tribute to former South Africa president.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has led the sporting tributes to his "dear friend", South Africa's first black president Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95.

Mr Mandela had used sport to bring his country together following strict racial segregation by his predecessors.

Nelson Mandela: Key dates

• 1918 Born in the Eastern Cape
• 1943 Joins African National Congress
• 1956 Charged with high treason but charges dropped
• 1962 Arrested, convicted of sabotage, sentenced to five years in prison
• 1964 Charged again, sentenced to life
• 1990 Freed from prison
• 1993 Wins Nobel Peace Prize
• 1994 Elected first black president
• 1999 Steps down as leader
• 2004 Retires from public life

• BBC History: Mandela's defiant freedom speech

Blatter said: "It is in deep mourning that I pay my respects to an extraordinary person.

"He and I shared an unwavering belief in the extraordinary power of football to unite people."
Blatter added: "He was probably one of the greatest humanists of our time."
Mr Mandela once stated: "Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people, in a way that little else does."
Fifa's president hailed Mr Mandela's impact on football's 2010 World Cup in South Africa and said there would be a minute's silence as a mark of respect ahead of the next round of international matches.
"When he was honoured and cheered by the crowd at Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium on 11 July 2010, it was as a man of the people, a man of their hearts.
"It was one of the most moving moments I have ever experienced. For him, the World Cup in South Africa truly was 'a dream come true'," Blatter added.
After he was elected as president in 1994, the 1995 Rugby World Cup was to be the showcase event for Mr Mandela's unifying agenda in South Africa.
One of the defining sporting images of the century was to follow in the final when, after South Africa's 15-12 extra-time victory against favourites New Zealand, Springboks captain Francois Pienaar was handed the trophy by Mr Mandela.
In that moment, racially divided South Africa came together in a way unimaginable during the 27 years the Nobel Peace Prize winner was incarcerated for his actions in the fight against apartheid.
South Africa rugby tweeted: "Rest in Peace Nelson Mandela. We will never forget the role you played in our country, in our sport, and for that we are eternally grateful."
Joost van der Westhuizen, who played in the 1995 World Cup final, said on Twitter: "A sad day for our country. Rest in Peace Madiba. Condolences to his family and friends."

15 of Nelson Mandela's best quotes

 

 

 

 

Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize winner, has died. During his long life, Mandela inspired countless individuals. Here is a collection of quotes that personify his spirit:
1) "Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end."
2) "It always seems impossible until it's done."

TIMELINE: The life of Nelson Mandela

ON MANDELA: 'Everyone was in awe of him'

Obama: Mandela 'belongs to the ages'

President Obama pays tribute to Nelson Mandela

• Former U.S. presidents pay their respects

 

President Obama said Thursday that Nelson Mandela inspired millions of people across the world — including Obama himself — to work for freedom, justice, and democracy.
"He no longer belongs to us," an emotional Obama said at the White House. "He belongs to the ages."
MORE: Transcript of Obama's remarks on Mandela
Obama described Mandela as "one of the most influential, courageous, and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this Earth."
The president gave his eulogy less than an hour after the announcement of the South African leader's death.
Obama noted that he first became involved in politics at a protest against apartheid in South Africa. He said he has studied Mandela's writings throughout his career in government.
"Like so many around the globe, I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set," said the nation's first African-American president. "And so long as I live I will do what I can to learn from him."

Nelson Mandela saw sport as way to connect S. Africans

(Photo: Ross Setford, AP)

Story Highlights

• Springboks victory in World Cup at home was defining moment for South Africa
• Mandela saw importance of rugby to millions of white South Africans
• He recognized transformative power that sport could have

It is hard to think of any person — political, cultural or otherwise — of the past 25 years who inspires such universal admiration as Nelson Mandela. We seldom associate him with sports. The index in his autobiography makes no mention of sports, even though he excelled as a boxer and a runner in college. Nor is there any reference to "soccer," the sport that the majority African population of South Africa claims as its own.

The only sport discussed in Anthony Sampson's authorized biography is rugby. Mandela never played it. He barely understood the rules — until, that is, 1995's defining moment when South Africa's rugby team won the rugby World Cup on its home pitch.

Perhaps you will recall the picture of Mandela, in a replica of Francois Pienaar's green and gold jersey, awarding the trophy after South Africa's Springboks won the tournament, one of the iconic sports photos of the past generation. If you remember the expression on Mandela's face, it is impossible to picture anyone happier.

Gun-control ad debuts ahead of Newtown anniversary

 

Push for gun-control legislation comes as Americans mark one year since 20 children, 6 adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

(Photo: John Moore, Getty Images)

Story Highlights

• 20 children and six adults died during massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School last year
• President Obama, groups have demanded gun-control legislation in wake of tragedy
• House passed plastic gun ban but no action taken on expanded background checks for gun owners

Analysis: Mandela's party weakened but survives

(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Story Highlights

• Mandela's African National Congress has won all four national elections
• New political parties making gains against ANC
• ANC's affinity for a heavy state role in economy has soured relations with business

If you're an optimist, South African democracy is well established and solid enough to withstand the trauma of Nelson Mandela's passing.
Mandela's African National Congress has won all four national elections since the advent of democracy in 1994 though its popularity has gradually eroded. Headed by President Jacob Zuma, the ANC still commands a two-thirds majority in parliament before elections in 2014.
The ANC rules in an alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party, of which Zuma was once a member. Communist and union officials contest elections under the ANC banner.
Zuma, South Africa's president since 2009, is a 71-year-old Zulu populist whose personal life is marked with controversy. He has four wives and 20 children. He was charged but not convicted of rape and corruption.

Recalling Nelson Mandela: 'Everyone was in awe of him'

The anti-apartheid leader's popularity was evident in a 1990 visit to the United States.

(Photo: David Longstreath, AP)

Story Highlights

• Mandela visited the United States in June 1990
• UAW leader: Mandela brought Detroit together at a time of racial tension
• Mandela's support for peaceful co-existence with whites earned him the respect of many

Detroit Magistrate Judge Margaret Baylor recalls coming face-to-face with Nelson Mandela while she was a volunteer for Trans Africa, an African-American foreign policy lobbying group.
The organization had raised money for the African National Congress, and she was to meet Mandela in Durban, South Africa.
"Mr. Mandela came in first. I could not speak," she said. "I was stuttering and sputtering.
"Everyone was in awe of him because of what he did and how he handled himself."
Mandela died Thursday in South Africa.
Baylor, like many Americans, had spent years in the movement to end apartheid, the system in which minority-white rule prevailed in South Africa. When Mandela was released after 27 years in prison for advocating violence to oust the government, Baylor, like many activists, were stunned when he reconciled with his captors.

^“I knew that this was somebody unlike most others^”

— Detroit Magistrate Judge Margaret Baylor

"He was not mad. He was just going forward to the next thing. I knew that this was somebody unlike most others," Baylor said.
Mandela's fortitude and his eventual support for peaceful co-existence with whites earned him the respect of many. His popularity was evident when he visited the United States in June 1990.
Trudy Gallant-Stokes recalls how Tiger Stadium in Detroit hummed with excitement as thousands of people awaited his arrival. Gallant-Stokes, then a freelancer from Black Entertainment Television, said Mandela connected deeply to the crowd.
"He seemed to be speaking just human being to human being," she said. "He was so humble in spite of all he'd accomplished."

Former South African president Nelson Mandela leaves the Intercontinental Hotel on June 26, 2008, in London.  File photo by Shaun Curry, AFP/Getty Images

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A chance encounter in the hallway of Detroit's Renaissance Center stays with her. Gallant-Stokes was standing with her mother when Mandela passed by a few feet away.
"He just happened to turn and nod at us. That was our moment," she said.
Baylor's moment had come hours before in a hangar at the airport where Mandela had held a news conference. In thanking his hosts, he mentioned Baylor.
"I have a tape of him saying my name out of his lips," Baylor said. "I'm talking about this 22 years later, and I am excited about it all over again."

Nelson Mandela waves to the media as he arrives in central London for a meeting with the British prime minister.(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Mandela's visit changed Detroit, says former UAW leader Owen Bieber.
Mandela brought the city together at a time of racial tension, Bieber said. As police escorted Mandela from the airport, Bieber saw people standing outside their cars as the motorcade passed. He assumed they were angry at the stopped traffic.
"These people were waving to us. There were more whites than there were blacks," he said.

^“These people were waving to us. There were more whites than there were blacks^”

— Owen Bieber, former UAW leader

Bieber had seen firsthand the conditions in South Africa's black townships and prisons on a visit to the country in 1986. Bieber, then president of the UAW and a member of Secretary of State George Schultz's advisory commission on South Africa under President Reagan, had been working with South Africa's Metal and Allied Workers Union to free its leader Moses Mayekiso, who had been jailed following a riot with police.
Bieber says he found that South Africa's black residents lived in fear of arbitrary arrest and beatings. When he met Mandela in Detroit, he marveled at his calm demeanor and his lack of anger
"I remember putting my arm around him as he got off the plane in Detroit. It was like having my arm around a bag of bones. He was very gaunt," Bieber said