Football pays tribute to Nelson Mandela
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Article summary
Players and officials will pay their respects to the late Nelson Mandela, with a banner in his honour to be unfurled at each UEFA Champions League match this week.
Article top media content
![Tributes will be staged ahead of every UEFA Champions League game this week Tributes will be staged ahead of every UEFA Champions League game this week](https://editorial.uefa.com/resources/020e-0e87cd1c8b96-c30884593390-1000/format/wide1/sir_alex_ferguson_stand_old_trafford_.jpeg?imwidth=158)
Article body
UEFA, Europe's top players and match officials will unite to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela in a ceremony to take place ahead of every UEFA Champions League game this week.
A 12m-by-2m banner reading 'Madiba, the world will never forget' will be unfurled before every matchday six fixture, with teams and referees to pose for pictures behind it ahead of kick-off. The former president of South Africa, whose actions helped precipitate the collapse of the apartheid regime in his home country, died on 5 December at the age of 95. 'Madiba' is the traditional Xhosa clan name by which Mandela was affectionately known.