adidas and 46664 unite the world through football

The 2010 Fifa World Cup™ was an exciting time for the world, and adidas connected people around the globe through their Unite Mzansi Unite (UMU) campaign. It was a time remembered today at the handover of one of the 2010 Fifa World Cup™ official final match balls to 46664 at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory.

The adidas UMU campaign was created to inspire the world to celebrate diversity in unity while raising funds for the 46664 campaign. It also contributes to long-term projects that will leave a legacy long after the 2010 Fifa World Cup™.

International athlete and adidas brand icon Haile Gebrselassie handed over the ball, named Jo’bulani, to 46664 board member Achmat Dangor. Gebrselassie says Mr Mandela is one of his role models, "Even though he is not a runner he has taught me about the meaning of endurance."

Gebrselassie says South Africa did a great job hosting the 2010 Fifa World Cup™and explains that, even in Ethiopia where he was when he watched the final game, people were excited, "Not only in South Africa but in all of Africa we were behind the game and were proud of it being in Africa."

Encouraging global unity around sport was one of the primary objectives of the UMU campaign, explains Gavin Cowley, adidas marketing director, "Our World Cup effort was not only commercially driven but had a very strong corporate social responsibility element that gave us the platform to help to make the world a better place. adidas embarked on a project to raise funds for 46664 – an inspirational campaign that has evident synergy with our brand values. We have already handed over the funds raised through the sale of UMUs worldwide to 46664, and this is our small way of inspiring pride and hope among South Africans in the same way that Nelson Mandela has done throughout his lifetime.”

Achmat Dangor, 46664 board member, says partnering with an international brand such as adidas provided 46664 an opportunity to make a difference around the world using Mr Mandela's legacy as a symbol to overcome any obstacles.

He applauded the efforts of adidas to raise awareness of Nelson Mandela International Day, and the 46664 campaign, as well as their endeavours to ensure that all South Africans, and indeed the world, participated in and experienced the World Cup. In an ever-changing, precarious global economic environment, he appealed to companies the world over to follow the example set by adidas; to meaningfully consider and take forward initiatives that integrate their core business with the invaluable work of civil society.

In addition to the sale of UMUs, adidas conducted the following fundraising activities for 46664:

• Development and sale of key co-branded adidas apparel products including shoes, a bag, hoody and t-shirts, with proceeds remitted to 46664;

• Support of “Gogo’s for Mandela”– an elderly all female soccer team from Limpopo that received a small sponsorship from adidas, which visited the 46664 offices in Johannesburg and asked the world to support “Madiba’s work”; and

• Sale of paintings commissioned from local artists, created during the World Cup, to the benefit of 46664.

The final match ball, Jo’bulani, will go into the collection of 46664 memorabilia and will be put on public display at a later stage. The ball was named Jo’bulani after the city of Johannesburg and features gold-coloured rings to represent Johannesburg as the city of gold.

As a token of appreciation Dangor presented Gebrselassie with a 46664 bangle. By wearing the bangle Gebrselassie becomes an official ambassador of 46664, a commitment he will carry through his lifetime, as he said he would never take the bangle off.