Description Timed perfectly for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the true story of how political prisoners under apartheid found hope and dignity through soccer In the hell that was Robben Island, inmates united courageously in an act of protest.
Beginning in 1964, they requested the right to play soccer during their exercise periods.
Denied repeatedly, they risked beatings and food deprivation by repeating their request for three years.
Finally granted this right, the prisoners banded together to form a multi-tiered, pro-level league that ran for more than two decades and served as an impassioned symbol of resistance against apartheid.
Former Robben Island inmate Nelson Mandela noted in the documentary FIFA: 90 Minutes for Mandela, Soccer is more than just a game.
The energy, passion, and dedication this game created made us feel alive and triumphant despite the situation we found ourselves in.
About the author CHUCK KORR is professor emeritus of history at the University of Missouri-St.
Louis and author of The End of Baseball As We Knew It and West Ham United.
He has been published in the New York Times and has appeared on ESPN and CNN.
MARVIN CLOSE is a scriptwriter in the United Kingdom.
St. Martins Press More than just a game: soccer vs. apartheid: the most important soccer story ever told/chuck korr
