Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi came to South Africa as a 23-year-old barrister in 1893 with little interest in politics, however within weeks of his arrival he was moved from a first-class berth in a train to third class despite holding a valid ticket. Outraged at the injustice meted out to him on the basis on his skin colour Gandhiji first sowed the seeds of his civil rights movement and passive resistance in the Rainbow Nation.
His role in gaining justice not only for India, but also apartheid-torn South Africa is widely acknowledged and he is held in great regard in African nation.
However, as the World Cup finally entered African soil for the first time Fifa and the South African Local Organising Committee failed to even spell his name correctly.
In the official Fifa media guide Gandhiji has erroneously been referred to as as “Ghandi” on Page 89 (see graphic). What makes the goof-up all the more alarming is that on the top of the very same page his name was correctly spelt.
When informed of the error all the Fifa media officer could say was, “Many thanks for pointing out this unfortunate spelling mistake in the part on the bottom. However, please note on the more prominent section on the top it is correctly spelt.”