Makana Football Association was a sporting body formed by political prisoners on

Robben Island Robben Island ( af, Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrik ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

who organised

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

leagues for fellow inmates. Formed in 1966, the association ran a league until 1973, adhering strictly to the Laws of the Game, the FIFA rulebook being one of the few books in the prison library. It was named after the 19th century Xhosa warrior-prophet

Makana Makana is a mountain located on northern shore of the island of Kauai, Kauai, where it rises above Limahuli Valley. ''Makana'' is a Hawaiian language term meaning gift or reward. It is often used as a person's name or as part of a name. Limahul ...

, who was himself imprisoned on Robben Island. Prior to this, the game had been banned by the prison authorities, but starting in December 1964, prisoners took turns to "...request to be allowed to play football" every Saturday. At one point the F.A. was running three leagues, with teams from nine clubs competing. The organisation crossed the political divides in the prison, between the

ANC The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election installe ...

and the

PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Military * Rapid Deployment Force (Malaysia), an armed forces unit * Patriot Advanced Capability, of the MIM-104 Patriot missile * Civil Defense Patrols (''Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil''), Guatemalan militia and paramili ...

, with over half of the inmates involved in the leagues. A small group of prisoners, including

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and Ahmed Kathrada were, however, barred from participating in or even watching the matches. The Makana F.A. was given honorary membership of

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

in 2007, and in the same year a film was made telling the story of the F.A., entitled '' More Than Just a Game''. Former

President of South Africa The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of South Africa and is the commander-in-chief of the South African Nationa ...

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

, was a Makana F.A.

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

. Others involved in the F.A.'s organisation included Steve Tshwete,

Dikgang Moseneke Dikgang Ernest Moseneke (born 20 December 1947) is a South African judge and former Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa. Biography Moseneke was born in Pretoria and went to school there. He joined the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) at the ag ...

, and

Tokyo Sexwale Mosima Gabriel "Tokyo" Sexwale (; born 5 March 1953) is a South African businessman, politician, anti-apartheid activist, and former political prisoner. Sexwale was imprisoned on Robben Island for his anti-apartheid activities, alongside figur ...

References

Soccer in South Africa Association football organizations Soccer and apartheid {{Apartheid-sa-stub