BREAKING NEWS!!!! JOAO HAVELANGE IS DEAD

Former FIFA president,Joao Havelange died today , August 16,2016, aged 100 years. He was the 7th President of FIFA, from 1974 to 1998 and also second longest in FIFA's history, behind only that of Jules Rimet.

BRIEF HISTORY BOUT JOAO HAVELANGE

*BORN Jean-Marie Faustin Godefroid "João" de Havelange May 18, 1916 In Rio de Janeiro.

*Havelange was accepted to the prestigious Law School of Fluminense Federal University, he graduated at the age of 24 with a PhD in Law.

*Interested in sports since his childhood years, at the age of 20 Havelange competed as a swimmer at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, but failed to go beyond the heats of the 400m freestyle and1500m freestyle events. He was also part of the Brazilian team that tied for 13th in water polo at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He was the chef de mission of the Brazilian delegation at the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne.

*He was President of the Metropolitan Swimming Federation in Brazil; Havelange became a member of the Brazilian Olympic Committee and joined the Union Cycliste Internationale in 1958. After becoming Vice-President of the Brazilian Sports Confederation, he served as President of the Confederation from 1958 to 1973.

*In 1974 Havelange defeated Englishman Stanley Rous for the presidency of FIFA, the governing body of world association football. Havelange became the first (and, to date, only) non-European to hold the post.

*Under Havelange's presidency the FIFA World Cup expanded from 16 to 32 teams

* Havelange overseeing six world cups during his time in office.

*The FIFA U-17 World Cup, FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA Confederations Cup and FIFA Women's World Cup were all introduced under his tenure.

*João Havelange served as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 1963 to 2011; He was the longest-serving active member upon his resignation.

* A stadium was named after him already in Brazil.

REST IN PEACE JOAO!