Remembering the Madiba magic in Zurich
His presence sealed the historic moment when SA was named World Cup host
YOU could have cut the tension in the room with a knife in the moments before Fifa president Sepp Blatter announced the winning bid for the 2010 World Cup in Zurich on May 15, 2004.
Hushed murmurs suggested that statesman Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela had arrived in the Swiss capital 24 hours earlier, but none of the conspiratory whispers could confirm whether he was near the announcement hall at the World Trade Centre.
I can still smell the faint whiff of expensive cologne as a Fifa official’s frantic steps betrayed his attempt to avoid the inevitable question I mouthed as he bolted down the corridor.
South Africa’s rivals feared that if he had indeed travelled to Switzerland, the former president’s infectious grin would be enough to melt even the sternest of hearts on the 24-member executive, and news of his suspected presence in Zurich sparked panic in their ranks.
You see, Mandela’s trip had been in doubt as he was thought to be too frail to risk the long flight to Europe.
But as it later turned out, Mandela defied his doctors’ orders to rest, and flew to Zurich.
Conspiracy theories are inevitable at such clandestine gatherings, and dejected Moroccan journalists suddenly claimed minutes before the announcement that they already knew the outcome of what we’d thought was a secret ballot.
They told disbelieving listeners among us that their football association had just informed them that
Mandela shed a tear of joy as he triumphantly held the Fifa World Cup trophy in his hands
South Africa would be announced as the comfortable winner after edging out Morocco in the first round of voting.
Two popular stories claimed that German football legend Franz Beckenbauer had told Mandela on the eve of voting that you will not leave empty-handed this time”, in reference to South Africa’s failed bid for the 2006 World Cup.
The other said Blatter had told a photographer to get his camera out as he wanted a historic picture of himself with a jubilant Mandela standing by his side when the announcement was made.
It was all too much for some of us and it was at that point that I wished I’d given in to the temptation to buy the reasonably priced bottle of good Scotch I spotted at the airport dutyfree when we landed in Zurich.
But as it later turned out, the soothing waters of Scotland were not needed as the Fifa executive voted 14-10 in South Africa’s favour and put the cherry on the nation’s 10 years of democracy celebrations.
There was hardly a dry eye in the room as a beaming Mandela shuffled towards the podium after Blatter’s envelope named South Africa as the winner.
Mandela shed a tear of joy as he triumphantly held the Fifa World Cup trophy in his hands.
He said he was not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying”. Enough said. Lala ngoxolo Madiba, you have earned your final resting place among the angels.