LUCAS Radebe has invited Nelson Mandela to his testimonial match, between a Leeds United All Stars X1 and an International World X1, at Elland Road on Bank Holiday Monday, May 2 (3pm).
Leeds defender Radebe, 35, and the South African civil rights leader are close friends and proceeds from the testimonial are going to charities in the UK and South Africa.
Former Leeds players Gordon Strachan, Gary McAllister, Tony Yeboah, Gary Speed, David Batty, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Tony Dorigo, Dominic Matteo and David Wetherall have already confirmed they will be playing in the match for Radebe, nicknamed 'The Chief'.
Discussions are also under way with top world stars who played with Radebe in the recent match in Barcelona for the Tsunami Appeal. Bolton manager Sam Allardyce will take charge of the World X1 team.
Radebe hopes to raise £500,000 for eight charities from the match and other events during his testimonial year.
He said: "I've enjoyed ten fantastic years at Leeds United and have been fortunate to play alongside some of the best players in the modern game, domestically and internationally.
"I want to say farewell to the fans, while putting something back into the Leeds and South African communities.
"I was honoured to take part in the benefit match at Barcelona's Nou Camp in aid of the Asian Tsunami victims, which confirmed what a powerful fund-raising platform football can be."
South African international Radebe is currently injured but he is determined to be fit in time to feature in the match.
Leeds' home reserve game against Newcastle on Tuesday, March 22, will now be played 24 hours later, as a memorial service is taking place on March 22 for Bruce Craven.
Bruce, who was a member of Leeds' physiotherapy staff, died of melanoma last month, aged 32.
With no league game this weekend, United head for the Irish Republic to play Drogheda tomorrow. A large proportion of the receipts will be donated to the Gary Kelly Cancer Support Centre in Drogheda.
Kelly's sister Mandy died of cancer and part of the proceeds from the right-back's testimonial fund went to the Support Centre.
Updated: 11:36 Saturday, March 19, 2005
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