The former president of FIFA, Joao Havelange, had died at the age of 100 in Rio de Janeiro.
A long-time sports administrator, Havelange was in charge of world soccer’s governing body from 1974 until 1998 when Sepp Blatter took over.
The Brazilian resigned as FIFA’s honorary president in 2013 following bribery allegations and was also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 1963 until 2011 when he resigned for health reasons.
He had a huge impact in shaping the modern sporting world and the current Olympic stadium for the Rio 2016 games is named in his honor.
A former Olympian who swam for Brazil at the 1936 Olympics, plus played on their water polo team in the 1952 Olympics, Havelange was being treated for pneumonia in July.
He oversaw the rapid expansion of FIFA and the World Cup, however in 2012 a Swiss court accused Havelange and his son-in-law Ricardo Teixeira of taking $10 million in “bribery payments” from a marketing company to dish out the TV rights for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.
