More Than Just a Game
Soccer vs. Apartheid: The Most Important Soccer Story Ever Told
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Timed perfectly for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Chuck Korr and Marvin Close's More Than Just a Game tells the timeless 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."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
More Than Just a Game tells the little-known story of how soccer transformed the lives of political prisoners on Robben Island, an isolated hell-on-earth off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa that housed black inmates during the apartheid era. Beginning in 1964, prisoners subjected to routine beatings and starvation united in an extreme act of courage, demanding the right to play soccer during exercise periods. The prisoners were eventually allowed to form a multi-tiered, pro-level league that operated for more than two decades. Academic historian Korr and scriptwriter Close resurrect this overlooked history with a vivid narrative no doubt aided by the 2007 docudrama of the same name. Brutal depictions of prison life make for compelling, at times uncomfortable reading, and the challenges faced by the players association are presented in great detail, thanks to meticulous records kept by prisoners (Robben Island s most famous inmate, Nelson Mandela, barely plays a role). Akin to a DVD s bonus feature, a final chapter titled The Story Behind More Than Just A Game explains how Korr came upon what he rightly calls the most important soccer story ever told. Photos.
Customer Reviews
More than just a game
It was great!! Trust me you wont be able to put it down dude. It's so good. Trust me dude get it!!