South African President Jacob Zuma officially opened a FIFA-sponsored football tournament yesterday that brings together 32 teams of youngsters from disadvantaged communities worldwide.
Dubbed “Football for Hope,” the tournament is taking place in the heart of Johannesburg’s township of Alexandra, a maze of low-laying shacks spread on gently rolling dun-coloured hills.
The tournament is an attempt to use and celebrate the power and popularity of football to enact social change by bringing together teams of boys and girls from all over the world, who are using the game to help their communities.