Johannesburg - Former president Nelson Mandela and his wife Graca Machel put in a brief appearance at Soccer City stadium for the closing ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup on Sunday night.
Mandela, warmly dressed in a black overcoat, gloves and fur hat, waved and smiled as he was greeted with a standing ovation from the 95 000-strong crowd.
The frail anti-apartheid icon who turns 92 this week and was wheeled into the stadium in a golf cart, left after a few minutes to watch the final from home.His grandson Mandla Mandela on Sunday said FIFA president Sepp Blatter had put too much pressure on the former president to attend the final.He said Blatter had been "inconsiderate" given that the family was still grieving the death of Mandela's great-granddaughter Zenani in a car accident on the eve of the tournament."My grandfather has recently lost a great-granddaughter and the family is in mourning," Mandela said. "They should be appraised of our customs and traditions."Mandela cancelled his scheduled appearance at the opening after learning of Zenani's death.
Follow Sport24 on Twitter and Facebook
Your Name
* Your Email
* Recipient's name
* Recipient's email
Your message
If you want to email this page to more than one person, just put a semicolon ";" between the email addresses. * = Compulsory
Yes - it's just back to daily life now
Sort of - I will feel better each passing day
No - I miss the vibe and bustle so much it hurts
Don't care - didn't get into it anyway
View Results | Vote Archive
36% Yes - it's just back to daily life now
20% Sort of - I will feel better each passing day
33% No - I miss the vibe and bustle so much it hurts
11% Don't care - didn't get into it anyway
Vote Archive
Twitter Follow Sport24 on Twitter
Newsletters Sign up for Sport24's Morning Glory newsletter
Blogs Yes your opinion counts. Get it out there
WIN Enter and win with Sport24!
Mobile Sport24 on your mobile phone - WAP, alerts, downloads, services
BlackBerry Stay in the loop on your BlackBerry
iPhone Latest Sport24 news on your iPhone
Facebook "Like" Sport24's Facebook page
TV schedule Plan your couch time with our searchable sport TV guide
RSS Feeds Sport news delivered really simply.