Sep 10, 2006, 13:23 GMT
Johannesburg - French footballer Zinedine Zidane might have a chance to carry out his punishment for headbutting in the World Cup on Robben Island off the Cape coast where Nelson Mandela spent most of his 27 years behind bars, it was reported on Sunday.
A Johannesburg-based businessman and former political prisoner who himself spent on the island with a centuries-old record as a prison location, told the Sunday Times newspaper, he was in a process of concluding a deal that will see Zidane and Marco Materazzi, the player he assaulted, reconcile on the island.
Tokyo Sexwale told the newspaper he was negotiating with FIFA president Joseph Blatter to allow Zidane to perform the community service sentence he received following the incident in the final World Cup match, in South Africa.
'I have spoken to Mr Blatter and I am just awaiting his response if Zidane can perform his punishment in South Africa. Materazzi will be here as part of a reconciliation between the two,' Sexwale was quoted as saying.
A little over a year ago, Sexwale hosted Brazilian footballer Ronaldo and Luis Figo of Portugal, according to the report.
South Africa is to host the World Cup finals in 2010. Robben Island is a World Heritage Site that symbolises liberation for millions of South Africans. In the 1600s it was used by Dutch settlers to imprison indigenous African leaders, slaves from Asian countries and later anti-apartheid activists.
Mandela spent 18 years in prison on the Island.
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