From Robben Island to the 2010 World Cup, football was a constant theme in Nelson Mandela’s life. Here’s how the beautiful game helped shape the Rainbow Nation.

“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. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers” – Nelson Mandela

Football on Robben Island

In 1961, the South African government began to hold political prisoners on former leper colony, Robben Island. With little nourishment, backbreaking work in the quarry, and rough treatment from wardens, it would have been easy for prisoners to lose hope.

But rather than just accept the island as some sort of Purgatory, the prisoners lobbied hard to be allowed one simple pleasure: football.

Every week for over three years, inmates made the request to the wardens, a different prisoner each time as punishment could be isolation without food. Eventually, the guards gave in, presuming it would just lead to some light recreation.

But what started off as a ball of rags on a small, dusty space gradually blossomed into something much more than just football.

Using a FIFA rule book found by an inmate, prisoners set up the Makana Football Association. In the documentary More than just a Game, former inmate Tony Suze says:

“suddenly soccer was a passion. It was all we could think about – it was all we wanted to do.”

By 1969 they moved to a bigger field allowing them to comply with FIFA regulations. Eight teams played across three divisions; each side boasting a plethora of fans and its own jersey, bringing color and identity back into to their lives.

The tedium of activities such as mid-week disciplinary hearings, fixture schedules, and devising tactics gave prisoners a purpose and kept morale high. In a deeper sense they felt that if they could successfully run a league in such adverse circumstances then maybe someday they could run a country.

However, not all inmates were directly involved. Prisoner number 46664, Nelson Mandela, was held on the isolation wing. He secretly followed games from his cell until they built a wall to block his view. But the sound of every kick and cheer that reached him still managed to keep his spirit up.

Inside the barbwire fences on Robben Island football was renewing hope during times of hardship. Several miles away on the mainland, in the midst of apratheid, the game was battling to do the same.