A number of critics in the world have blamed Fifa for having allowed South African National soccer team to in-script on their players’ jerseys Nelson Mandela’s prison number.

The critics argue that the inscript was political contrary to FIFA rules.

But the defenders of FIFA from around the world reason that there was no politics about Mandela’s prison Number being inscripted on players’ jerseys as the South Africans are trying to make Mandela’s prison experience relevant today.

The defenders of South Africa claim that the inscription is a message of hope found inside the walls of a notorious apartheid-era jail that many young ones who love football may not have known about.

Remember the racist apartheid regime that was in power in South Africa from 1948 to 1994 ensured segregation continued within the prison. Inmates were classified by their skin colour. Blacks received the least amount of food on their plates at meal time. Only the lighter skinned inmates, referred to as coloureds and Indians, were given bread.

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