- Bid now to own a piece of history –

Adidas launches the Unite Mzansi Unite (UMU) Legacy auction, an exclusive opportunity for people all over the world to own framed signatures of prominent South Africans who signed the giant adidas Bafana Bafana jersey in support of the UMU campaign. The auction is the final phase of the UMU campaign which managed to mobilise millions of South Africans to support the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ and the South African national football team –Bafana Bafana.

The prominent personalities who signed the giant adidas Bafana Bafana jersey (60 metres by 48 metres) had their signatures framed for the auction which kicks off on eBay tomorrow.

“As the world’s leading football brand, it was very important for us to leave a legacy after the World Cup that has a positive impact on South Africans. We therefore decided to select signatures from prominent South Africans who signed the jersey and we have had their signatures framed for people to purchase on ebay in order to raise funds for 46664,” says Deborah Miller, the Senior Communications Manager at adidas South Africa.

The list of framed signatures from prominent South Africans includes:

• Helen Zille (former Mayor of Cape Town and current Premier of the Western Cape Province)
• Danny Jordaan (Chief Executive of the Local Organising Committee of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™
• Lucas Radebe (former Bafana Bafana captain and adidas ambassador)
• Aaron Mokoena (current Bafana Bafana captain)
• Matthew Booth (current Bafana Bafana defender and World Cup squad member)
• Siphiwe Tshabalala (current Bafana Bafana midfielder and the scorer of the opening goal of the tournament)
• John Smit (current captain of the South African Rugby team)
• Graeme Smith (current captain of the South African Cricket team) and
• Baby Jake Matlala (former Boxing World champion).

President Jacob Zuma and Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe are expected to throw their weight behind the campaign in the near future. The framed pieces of the jersey represent more than just the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, they represent a moment in South African history when the nation came together to host the maiden and most memorable World Cup on African soil.

“People around the world can bid on eBay to own a piece of this framed jersey highlighting the legacy part of the UMU campaign and supporting 46664. The giant jersey was a significant tool in the adidas’ UMU campaign because it was central in uniting South Africans behind the World Cup and the National team – Bafana Bafana,” adds Miller.

The massive yellow jersey toured the rest of South Africa over seven months:

• covering a distance of 27, 000 kilometres,
• visiting more than 300 towns and villages and
• passing through all 9 provinces South Africa and
• all the host cities receiving an overwhelming welcome along the way.

Each framed piece of the jersey is 1020mm wide by 840mm high and will be auctioned via http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=adidasumulegacy. The auction will run for ten days and all proceeds go to the Nelson Mandela 46664 Foundation and adidas is encouraging everyone to contribute to this worthy cause.

Thomas Mueller took home the ‘Young Player of the Tournament’ award for his fine displays as well as the Golden Boot thanks to a superior assists difference.

Nominees for the Golden Ball award:

Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
Asamoah Gyan (Ghana)
Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
Andres Iniesta (Spain)
Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Mesut Ozil (Germany)
Arjen Robben (Netherlands)
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
David Villa (Spain)
Xavi (Spain)

Previous Winners
2006 : Zinédine Zidane (FRA)
2002 : Oliver Kahn (GER)
1998 : Ronaldo (BRA)
1994 : Romário (BRA)
1990 : Salvatore Schillaci (ITA)
1986 : Diego Maradona (ARG)
1982 : Paolo Rossi (ITA)

Nominees for the Best Young Player Award:

Thomas Mueller (Germany)
Giovani Dos Santos (Mexico)
Andre Ayew (Ghana)

Unite Mzansi Unite

adidas, official sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, have unveiled the giant Bafana Bafana jersey which bears signatures and messages of support from hundreds of thousands Bafana Bafana fans. The giant jersey –which is 60 metres by 48 metres big was unveiled at the Cape Town Stadium to mark the last Football Friday -a concept that saw South Africans wearing the colours of their national team every Friday in the days leading to the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™.

The giant jersey was the central tool in adidas’ Unite Mzansi Unite campaign whose aim was to unite South Africans behind the World Cup and the National team – Bafana Bafana. The massive yellow jersey toured the rest of South Africa over seven months:

• covering a distance of 27, 000 kilometres,
• visiting more than 300 towns & villages and
• passing through all 9 provinces South Africa and
• all the host cities receiving an overwhelming welcome along the way.

“We decided to unveil the giant jersey in one of the World Cup venues in order to mark the last Football Friday and to say thank you to all South Africans for uniting behind the World Cup and Bafana Bafana. We have certainly showed the World how united we are in our purpose to deliver a spectacular event and the final on Sunday will be a real cherry on top,” says Zobuzwe Ngobese, the Public Relations Manager at adidas South Africa.

The UMU campaign has not only touched South Africans as it had a very big global arm to it. Football fans from around the world were introduced to the yellow headband –known as the UMU a month before the tournament. This item has been sold globally at retail stores and all proceeds from the sales will go towards the 46664 –a Nelson Mandela charity organisation. Fans from South Africa and rest of the world have been wearing these yellow headbands at World Cup matches –something which created a sea of yellow at the stadiums –particularly when South Africa was playing. Some players also wore the UMUs on the field of play to show their support for charity.

“We are pleased that during all the three Bafana Bafana matches –the stadium was painted in yellow and more pleasing is the fact that the enthusiasm of South Africans continues all the way irrespective of whether our team is still there or not. That is what our campaign was all about –to unite South Africans behind the event,” adds Ngobese.

Some prominent people who have been part of the campaign include President of the Republic of South Africa Jacob Zuma, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, Danny Jordaan and Lucas Radebe. Musicians, actors and South African sports personalities also embraced the campaign.

Ordinary South Africans on the streets were equally touched by the campaign when the giant jersey reached their towns and villages while other locals offered to support UMU by showcasing their talents through song, dance and performances during truck stops in their areas.

With the jersey revealed, adidas has plans to leave a legacy long after the World Cup has gone. Certain high profile people and personalities who signed the jersey will have their signatures cut from the replica jersey, framed and auctioned on eBay. Proceeds from the auction will go to the Nelson Mandela 46664 charity organizations.

“As the world’s leading football brand, it was very important for us to leave a legacy after the campaign had finished. We have decided to select 11 signatures from prominent South Africans who signed the jersey and we will have pieces of their signatures framed for people to purchase on ebay -in order to raise funds and awareness for the great work the Nelson Mandela charity is doing,” adds Ngobese.

All South Africans that signed on the jersey will be able to say they were part of this historic event which was held on the African continent for the first time. It is expected that the spirit of unity will linger on after the World Cup and this is good news for the South African national team –which now enjoys unprecedented support following their brave at the tournament.

When Brazil play Holland in Port Elizabeth on Friday afternoon, players on both teams will take to the pitch wearing the most environmentally-friendly and technologically advanced kit in football history. The jerseys are made entirely from recycled polyester, each one directly produced from up to eight recycled plastic bottles.

The plastic bottles are diverted from Asian landfills, then chopped into flakes and melted down to a solution from which yarn is produced. This is then knitted into the fabric used to make the shirts. All national team shirts created by Nike for summer 2010 (whether worn by players or available for fans) use this process.

The kits are part of Nike’s ‘Considered Design’ programme, which aims  to reduce or eliminate toxics and waste, increase the use of environmentally preferred materials and use Nike innovation to create more sustainable products.

Nike National Team Kit Highlights:

• •   Nearly 13 million plastic bottles have been diverted from landfill by using recycled polyester for Nike-sponsored national team jerseys, preventing a total of         around 254,000 kg of polyester waste, from being buried at landfill sites.
• •   This would be enough to cover more than 29 football pitches, and if each recycled bottle used to make these jerseys was laid end to end they would cover over 3,000 kilometres, more than the entire coastline of South Africa.
• •   This saves precious raw materials and reduces energy consumption by up to 30% compared to manufacturing virgin polyester.

While reducing the environmental impact of production, Nike’s national team jersey delivers the best performance on pitch. The improved Nike Dri-FIT fabric, now 13% lighter than previous Nike kits fabrications, keeps players dry by drawing sweat to the outside of the garment. The innovative ventilation zones along each side of the jersey and below the waistband on the shorts significantly increases air passing through the fabric to keep players cooler.

Today adidas, Official Sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, unveiled a new painting of Nelson Mandela kicking a football as part of its ongoing 46664 auction on e-bay. The painting – based on a historical photograph of Madiba, was signed by South African celebrities who endorse the 46664 auction. The adidas / 46664 auction is an exclusive opportunity for football fans in South Africa and all over the world, to own a piece of unique FIFA World Cup™ history while supporting the Nelson Mandela, 46664 charity organisation at the same time.

“As the worlds leading football brand and Official Sponsor of the tournament, it was very important for us to leave a legacy here. It’s why we have chosen 46664 as our partner. This partnership allows us to utilize the platform of the FIFA World Cup to raise funds and awareness for the great work the Nelson Mandela Foundation is doing all over South Africa,” says Thomas van Schaik, Head of Global PR at adidas.

adidas is hosting an eBay auction where fans can bid to own a number of unique portrait paintings with highlights which include a distinctive paintings of Bafana Bafana star midfielder Steven Pienaar, England captain Steven Gerard, Spanish top scorer David Villa, Dutch winger Arjen Robben, Uruguay’s Diego Forlán, Germany’s Lukas Podolski and many other major stars of this years FIFA World Cup. Also featured is an emotive painting called ‘The First Whistle’ which immortalises the moment when Bafana Bafana began the tournament standing united as one with the first touch of the Jabulani match ball and millions united across the country, the nation gathered to watch the first FIFA World Cup™ take place on African soil.

Other iconic paintings include the moment before Bafana Bafana kicked off the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ tournament, when the team gathered together in a huddle around midfielder Steven Pienaar to create an intense moment as they prepared themselves for the biggest game in the history of African football.

Ruth Rensburg, a key spokesperson for the 46664 Foundation, says that the partnership with adidas started with the sale of the yellow headbands; UMU’s. A UMU is a unique yellow item that was aimed at encouraging South Africans to unite behind the FIFA World Cup and the South African national team –Bafana Bafana. “We are very excited by the various initiatives that we have developed with adidas. For us the legacy that will be left behind after the FIFA World Cup is what attracted us to this partnership,” she says.

All unique pieces of art have been created by the adidas 2010 FIFA World Cup^™ artist team, Paul Junior Kasemwana and Espoir Kennedy. The two brilliant, up and coming African artists who are permanently based at Jo’bulani Central, adidas’ PR headquarters during the tournament. They are creating daily paintings which capture those moments on the pitch that make history – a wonder goal, a penalty shoot out, pure elation, the pain of defeat, individual brilliance or simply a legendary team effort – these incredible moments form the adidas Live Quest, seamlessly complementing adidas’ 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign.

The two artists produce ‘Live Quest’ daily paintings showcasing key moments from the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ matches. Since the start of the tournament 21 daily highlights have been created.

The 46664 / adidas auction on E-bay also includes Steven Pienaar’s signed group stage shirt, 32 individual player portraits, The Quest featuring 32 players from the 32 federations playing at the FIFA World Cup^™ in one painting, the Live Quest paintings and also the actual adidas Jo’bulani FIFA World Cup^™ Official Final Match Ball which will be used in the FIFA World Cup final on July 11^th.

Each Live Quest painting is 270cm wide by 210cm high. These paintings, alongside the 32 individual player portraits and the other limited edition adidas FIFA World Cup™ lots, will be auctioned via www.ebay.co.uk/adidas46664auction throughout the tournament culminating on Monday the 12^th July with the adidas Jo’bulani FIFA World Cup^™ Official Final Match Ball. All proceeds go to the Nelson Mandela 46664 Foundation. The auction closes on Nelson Mandela Day; July 18, 2010.

On his first visit to the African continent, five-time champion Kobe Bryant joined NIKE Inc., the world’s largest football company, in a visit to the Football Training Center located in the heart of Soweto, South Africa to help inspire future champions.

The recently completed center will offer 20,000 young footballers per year the opportunity to develop their talent while also having access to HIV/AIDS education through football life skills programming.

“While basketball is my chosen sport, I’ve been a football fan all my life. So to be in South Africa for the first time and see how Nike is utilizing sport to inspire youth and educate them around HIV/AIDS is amazing,” said Kobe Bryant.  “It’s crystal clear that this center will help keep kids out of trouble, improve their game, as well as empower them with the life skills they need to live better and HIV free.”

The center is part of Nike’s commitment to the communities of South Africa, which dates back 15

years. It also follows Nike’s recent partnership with (RED) to leverage the power of sport to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa through the Lace Up, Save Lives campaign. When someone buys a pair of (NIKE)^RED laces, Nike contributes money to support programs that offer education and medication on the ground in Africa and that harness the power of sport to engage youth around the world in the fight against AIDS.

In addition to his visit to the center, Bryant has displayed his personal dedication to fighting HIV/AIDS by sporting (NIKE)^RED laces on the basketball court. The laces are the centerpiece of Nike’s Lace Up, Save Lives campaign. Conducted in partnership with (RED), the initiative offers individuals the opportunity to purchase (NIKE)^RED laces, and in return Nike contributes 100 % of its profits to support programs that offer HIV/AIDS education and medication in Africa.

While in South Africa, Kobe also visited the Life Center, one of Johannesburg’s most iconic skyscrapers and the site of Nike’s ambitious, tournament installation. Reaching 30 stories or 138 meters into the sky, the building features an interactive LED screen almost half the size of a football pitch. Tying back to the Write the Future campaign, the Nike installation allows fans to submit personal messages to athletes—via Facebook.com/nikefootball.com, Twitter, Facebook, Mxit (South Africa) and QQ (China). Each night messages are selected and transformed into digital player animations that are projected on the screen for the entire city to see.

Two of the hot favourites for the title will face each other in their final Group G encounter. It is Brazil v Portugal and Nike are looking to see who will ‘Write the Future’ – Robinho or Ronaldo?