90 Minutes for Nelson Mandela: More Than Just a Game

Former South African president Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is undoubtedly one of the world's living legends.

He's also one of the planet's most loved and respected political leaders.

It's no wonder, then, that celebrities from around the globe joined South Africans to commemorate Mandela's 89th birthday on Wednesday, in a celebration like no other in recent memory.

One of the major highlights of the festivities was a late-night international soccer match dubbed "90 Minutes for Mandela," which pitted the Worlds' XI against the African XI. The match ended in a 3-3 draw, and featured such luminaries as Pele, Eto'o, Chile's Ivan Zamorano, Ghana's Abedi Pele, Egypt's Hossam Hassan, Holland's  Ruud Gullit, and Spain's Julen Guerrero.

The Mandela celebration, though, was about more than just a birthday: It was used by its organizers as a platform to rally against a wide range of global ills, including racism, HIV-AIDS, humanitarian crises, and endemic poverty. 

Prior to "90 Minutes for Mandela," the soccer stars assembled at Makana FA's pitch on Robben Island, where Mandela was jailed for 27 years, to kick a symbolic 89 goals against racism.

FIFA had also earlier feted Mandela with two special number 89 jerseys, presented to him by Pele, Eto'o, and FIFA VP Jack Warner.

"I am deeply honored to receive this tribute from FIFA, but it must always be remembered that I was one of many who fought for freedom from tyranny and racism," Mandela said upon receiving the gift. "It is fitting, therefore, that FIFA will also pay homage to the Makana Football Association on Robben Island."

Mandela also used the occasion to form what he termed the Global Council of Elders, a group comprised of former statesmen committed to disease prevention, conflict mediation, and poverty elimination.

And there could have been no better place to launch such a campaign than in South Africa, whose history embodies both the perils and promise of man's struggle for moral and social progress.

Racial discrimination was officially institutionalized in South Africa with the enactment of apartheid laws in 1948. "Apartheid" is an Afrikaans word meaning "apart-hood", living apart. In practice, though, apartheid meant more than just living apart: It was a system of social and cultural segregation.

Citizen rights depended on whether one was classified, "legally", as white or black. Some areas of the country were marked as "white only." Interracial marriage was expressly prohibited, and blacks could not access "white-only" jobs. Most blacks languished in poverty, in stark contrast to the white ruling class.

Under apartheid in South Africa, a black person had no right of protest. The penalties for violation, even in the case of nonviolent demonstrations, included life imprisonment, banishment, and death. Under the race laws, anyone could be jailed, and often tortured, for up to six months without a hearing. 

Nelson Mandela is one of the few who dared to challenge apartheid rule, and his 27 years of detention on Robben Island make him the world's longest-tenured political prisoner. Upon his release, Mandela was elected Head of State by an absolute majority, thus becoming the first winner of an open democratic contest in South Africa and the first democratically elected leader in Africa as a whole.

Mandela stood down in 1999, after serving a single term, with an approval rating of 82 percent. As his birthday celebration made obvious, his legacy is still very much alive and well.