Football Notes: South Africa Announces Nelson Mandela Sports Day On Aug. 17

South Africa's national football and rugby teams will play on the same day at the former World Cup showpiece stadium in Soweto to honor Nelson Mandela, "bringing together the country's two most popular sports that once portrayed its racial divisions." The South African sports ministry said that the Nelson Mandela Sports Day will be on Aug. 17 at FNB Stadium (AP, 7/2). ... The struggle for power in Thai football "showed no signs of abating on Wednesday" with 108 clubs threatening to hold their own election unless top ranking official Worawi Makudi "brings forward the rescheduled vote" (REUTERS, 7/3). ... South Korea and Iran, whose recent spat made headlines throughout Asian football, "have agreed to bury their differences and sign a symbolic sporting exchange agreement" barely two weeks after a war of words ahead of and following their crucial 2014 World Cup qualifier which ended in ugly scenes of chaos when the Iranian players were pelted with bottles of water from the stands (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 7/3).