Mandela to skip World Cup opening ceremony: grandson

Nelson Mandela plans to skip the opening ceremony of the football World Cup finals in South Africa in June and will watch the tournament from home, his grandson told AFP on Wednesday.

The news will disappoint his legions of fans and the organisers of the competition, FIFA, who had hoped he would make a rare public appearance to grace the first world soccer finals on African soil which begin on June 11.

Asked if the increasingly frail 91-year-old would be present, Chief Mandla Mandela replied: "Certainly not. My grandfather at this age is very elderly and we are not trying to intensify his programme."

"He's said he would prefer to be at home in the rural countryside to spend time at the farm," Mandela, who is a member of parliament, said in an interview with AFP during a trip to India.

"What we understand is that during the World Cup he will be given the opportunity to rest in the countryside."

A final decision will be made by the family and the Nelson Mandela Foundation closer to the start date, he added, stressing that there were no immediate health worries.

Last Friday, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said he was hopeful that Mandela, famously nervous while watching sport, would be strong enough to be guest of honour at the finals.

"We cross fingers that Nelson Mandela can realise this dream," Blatter told reporters.

South Africa's first black president memorably used the 1995 Rugby World Cup finals in the country as an opportunity to unite the country post-apartheid when he embraced a sport played and watched almost exclusively by whites.

After his endorsement, the team's victory in the final was celebrated nationwide and Mandela appeared at the final dressed in the national strip and congratulated the team after their defeat of New Zealand.

His grandson, in India for South African national day celebrations, said Mandela would follow the football World Cup on television. His rural home is in Qunu in the South Africa's Eastern Cape province, his birthplace.

"We always watch soccer with him, but unless the team is winning 2-0 he doesn't feel comfortable," he said. "Once it's a tight situation, he usually walks away and says it's too nerve-wracking."

On repeated speculation about Mandela's health, he said: "My grandfather has always been in good health.

"The media will always put something out to sell papers. Every time my grandfather goes to the hospital for his monthly check up at the hospital it?s used as platform to say he is ill," he said.

He said the family's only concern was Mandela's knees, due to pressure on the joints from his top-heavy physique which he put to good effect as an amateur boxer in his youth.

Despite this, the former president still manages to walk around thanks to his "stubbornness" and determination, he added.

Mandela's last public appearance was on February 11 when he visited the South African parliament to mark the 20th anniversary of his release from prison.

His agenda is generally kept secret and has been known to change at the last minute.

Mandela junior, who holds a degree in political science, won a seat in the national parliament in last year's general election.