Uniting for Mandela

South Africa’s national soccer and rugby teams will play on the same day at the former World Cup showpiece stadium in Soweto to honor Nelson Mandela , bringing together the country’s two most popular sports that once underlined deep racial divisions. The South African sports ministry said Tuesday that Nelson Mandela Sports Day on Aug. 17 at FNB Stadium, formerly Soccer City, was aimed at uniting the country and the world in “celebration and promotion” of the anti-apartheid leader’s legacy. While calling the sports day a celebration of Mandela, the ministry referred to the somber mood in South Africa, with its beloved 94-year-old national hero still in a critical but stable condition after 25 days in the hospital. –AP