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Joao_havelange.jpg
Jean-Marie Faustin Goedefroid de Havelange (born May 8, 1916 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) was the president of FIFA from 1974 to 1998. He succeeded Sir Stanley Rous and was succeeded by Joseph Blatter. Since 1963, João Havelange has been a member of the International Olympic Committee.
When he was young, he succeeded in several sports, such as water polo and swimming, having even competed as a swimmer in 1936 in the Olympic Games of Berlin. He also competed in the Brazilian water polo team in the Olympic Games of 1952, in Helsinki.
Between 1958 and 1975, João Havelange served as the president of Confederação Brasileira de Desportos (CBD), and between 1955 and 1963, he was a member of the Comitê Olímpico Brasileiro (Brazilian Olympic Committee).
He has won several awards, like Cavalier of the Legion d'Honneur (France), the Order of Special Merit in Sports (Brazil), the Commander of the Cavaliers of the Ordem Infante Dom Henrique (Portugal), the Cavalier of the Vasa Orden (Sweden) and the Grand Cross of Elizabeth the Catholic (Spain). He was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988. In 1998, he was elected FIFA's president of honor.
João Havelange currently lives with his family in Rio de Janeiro and holds a doctorate in Law, acquired when he was 24. He worked as a lawyer for Auto Viação Jabaquara, a bus company. He is also the president-director of Viação Cometa S/A, another bus company, and is the senior partner of Orwec Química e Metalurgia Ltda.
The 2000 Brazilian Championship, won by Vasco da Gama, and organized by Clube dos 13 (which is a association of the Brazilian most traditional clubs), was called Copa João Havelange, after him.
It`s being built in Rio de Janeiro a new stadium for the 2007 Pan American Games. The stadium will be named Estádio Olímpico João Havelange in tribute to João Havelange.
| Preceded by: Sir Stanley Rous | Presidents of FIFA 1974–1998 | Succeeded by: Sepp Blatter |