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Breaking: Ex-FIFA president Joao Havelange dies in Rio aged 100
3:05 CAT | 16 Aug 2016
File photo / João Havelange
João Havelange, the Brazilian who ran Fifa for two decades, has died in Rio de Janeiro aged 100.
Havelange had been admitted to hospital in July suffering from pneumonia having been ill for some time. The hospital, while refusing to comment on the cause of death, put out a statement expressing its “sympathy for his family and friends”.
Havelange presided over Fifa from 1974 until 1998 where he was credited by many for expanding football into a global game and remained as honorary president until 2013.
He resigned that role following an investigation into allegations that he had accepted bribes to grant lucrative World Cup contracts to the marketing company ISL.
He was also a longtime member of the International Olympic Committee until resigning in December 2011 after an earlier investigation into his relationship with ISL.
While at Fifa he was credited with encouraging the development of the sport in new markets, such as Africa, Asia and the United States and was president of the Brazilian football confederation when the country won its first three World Cups in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
His son-in-law, Ricardo Teixeira, took over for two more World Cup trophies in 1994 and 2002 but also faced allegations of irregularities, which he denied, and he resigned for medical reasons in 2012 after 23 years as CBF president.
Source: The Guardian
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