Brazil’s former Fifa soccer boss Havelange, 100, dies in Rio
The first non-European to head world football’s governing body, who made the organisation a global powerhouse, has died
Joao Havelange, who has died at 100, was the man who made Fifa a global powerhouse, only to resign under a cloud of corruption that has darkened the world footballing body’s reputation.
His death was confirmed on Tuesday by the Samaritano Hospital in Rio de Janeiro. He had been treated there as recently as July for pneumonia.
As head of Fifa for 24 years and with half a century on the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Havelange thought and acted big, becoming a central figure in the evolution of today’s sporting mega-events.
Among his last achievements was to use his clout to help Rio win its bid to host this year’s Olympic Games – the first held in South America.
Havelange quits Fifa post following bribery investigation
Havelange “sees the world through a telescope and not through a microscope,” former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger said.