Football 'more than just a game'
Vivian Warby
20 July 2007
More than just a game, a film about a group of political prisoners on Robben Island who found solace in football over three decades ago, is to be released later this year by leading South African film maker Anant Singh.
The film, featuring Tsotsi star Presley Chweneyeagae, tells the story of five prisoners who formed the Makana Football Association, and how playing the game helped them "escape" from the conditions in which they were incarcerated.
The five were Anthony Suze, Liso Sitoto, Marcus Solomons, Sedick Isaacs and Mark Shinners, all of whom spent much of their youth on the island prison of apartheid.
For years political prisoners had to fight for the right to play football on the island, with men secretly playing the game in their cells with balls made of pieces of paper, cardboard and rags held together with string.
The island's authorities finally gave in, granting inmates the right to play football in 1965. The
prisoners then built their own goals and would swap their drab prison garb and play in the colours of their teams on Saturdays. The Makana FA was formed in 1966.
"You should have seen how we played soccer," former inmate Sam Tshabalala said at a press conference announcing the film in Cape Town this week.
Tshabalala, who considers himself as the "greatest" goalkeeper to have played on Robben Island, says the Makana FA played matches that would have put local glamour clubs Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates to shame.
Fellow former inmate Anthony Suze said that more than 30 years ago, youngsters like himself and Tshabalala rose above a situation that sought to dehumanise them, with football becoming "more than just a game" for them.
"In a situation that sought to undermine us, it gave us hope," Suze said. "It is amazing to think a game that people take for granted all around the world, was the very same game that gave a group of prisoners sanity and in a way
glorified us."
However, the island's most famous prisoner, Nelson Mandela, was among a small group, including Walter Sisulu and Ahmed Katrada, who were barred from taking part in or even watching the prison football league.
"For almost two decades these men were not allowed to witness a single soccer match that took place only metres from them," said the film's director, Junaid Ahmed.
Ahmed described More than just a game as a "remarkable telling of our history ... It uncovers layers of history that I never knew of before, and it shows the great sacrifices people made for our freedom."
In a ceremony held on Robben Island on Wednesday, the Makana Football Association was made an honorary associate member of Fifa.
Fifa representative Jerome Champagne said More than just a game had a universal message. "It shows the role football played in the history of this country and it shows what football can achieve - dignity and equality. It also
highlights the value of the human spirit.
"Fifa is proud, happy and humbled to be part of this production that will have global appeal," Champagne said.
Producer Anant Singh said it was the first of many fims about the beautiful game in South Africa that would be coming out in the lead-up to the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
Source: BuaNews
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