Former FIFA president Joao Havelange, who was undergoing treatment for pneumonia, has recently passed away at the Samaritano Hospital in Rio de Janeiro. He was 100.
Havelange, who succeeded Sir Stanley Rous to become the first non-European to lead FIFA in 1974, went on to head the world's football governing body for 24 years before eventually resigning from the post in 2013 after the confirmation of his involvement in corruption.
Havelange had also served as a president of the Brazilian Sports Confederation for 15 years besides joining the Brazilian Olympic Committee in 1955 and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1963,Sport24 reported.
Havelange, who represented Brazil in swimming at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and again in Helsinki in 1952, also oversaw FIFA's inauguration of the Under-17 World Cup, the World Youth Cup, the Women's World Cup, the Indoor World Cup and introduction of the Confederations' Cup.
Among his latest achievements was to help Rio de Janeiro win its bid to host this year's Olympic Games, the first to be held in South America.
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