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Football pays tribute to Nelson Mandela

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.

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 ©UEFA.com

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.

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