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Soccer Tomb-y

João Havelange, who took soccer from a boring local sport and built it into a boring, corrupt international sport, has died at the age of 100. But it's soccer - how can you even tell? He may have taken a dive to draw a foul. Or avoid a subpoena. The Brazilian businessman and former Olympic swimmer (in 1936) and water polo player (in 1952) was elected as the first non-European head of FIFA, soccer’s world organizing body, in 1974. At the time, it was a modest operation, primarily existing just to run the World Cup every 4 years. When he left after his 6th 4-year term in 1998, FIFA had $4 billion in the bank and was a $250 billion a year industry, with some of that income not even related to bribes and kickbacks. Years after his departure, he and his son-in-law were accused of pocketing $41 million and were forced to make restitution to end a Swiss criminal investigation. The revelation also led to his resignation from the International Olympic Committee, where he had served for 48 years, for “health reasons.” During his tenure, the World Cup doubled in participation to include 32 nations in 1994, with vast increases in marketing, broadcasting, and merchandising, but sadly, not scoring. Havelange was powerful enough to bar Pele, Brazil’s, if not the world’s, most famous and popular soccer player, from the draw during the US-hosted World Cup in 1994, after the soccer great had the gall to accuse Havelange and son of corruption. Havelange even was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the Swiss football federation during the fierce bidding to host the 1998 World Cup between Switzerland and France, because anyone can bribe with money – bribing with one of the world’s most prestigious international awards is going the extra mile. Havalange was succeeded by his hand-picked successor Sepp Blatter, who drew an 8-year suspension for paying a potential rival to withdraw his challenge for FIFA president, ensuring Havelange’s legacy was secure.