THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAO PAULO, Brazil — Former FIFA president Joao Havelange is in serious condition again after his health deteriorated because of heart and breathing problems, Brazilian doctors said Tuesday.
The Samaritano Hospital said in a statement that Havelange’s cardiac and pulmonary functions weakened overnight and doctors had to give him medication to control his blood pressure.
The 95-year-old former IOC member remains in a semi-intensive care unit, but doctor Joao Mansur Filho said Havelange’s condition still requires close attention.
"Right now Joao Havelange needs medication to control his blood pressure and improve the functions of his heart," Filho said.
It wasn’t clear if Havelange was breathing with the aid of a ventilator as he has done on occasion during his stay at the hospital.
The Brazilian was hospitalized a month ago in Rio de Janeiro for septic arthritis, a serious bacterial infection that affects joints and can spread quickly if not immediately treated. He is still receiving antibiotics for the infection, which affected his right ankle, but doctors said recently it is under control. Havelange underwent three drainage procedures on his ankle.
Havelange spent the first few days in an intensive care unit but had been improving considerably until heart and breathing problems last week prompted concerns again. He returned to intensive care for a few days but improved until his health deteriorated Tuesday.
Havelange, who will turn 96 in May, presided over FIFA from 1974-98 and resigned from the International Olympic Committee late last year, just three days before the IOC’s executive board was preparing to rule on claims that he took a $1 million kickback from World Cup marketing deals while FIFA president. By leaving the IOC, he avoided a possible suspension or expulsion.
A former Olympic swimmer and water polo player, Havelange joined the IOC in 1963 and was its oldest member until resigning in December.
He was the last man in charge of FIFA before Sepp Blatter took over football’s governing body in 1998. The Brazilian is credited by many for expanding football into a global game, and under his watch FIFA grew from an organization with a staff of about a dozen to administering a multibillion-dollar sport.
Havelange also presided over the Brazilian federation for nearly two decades, including the period spanning the country’s first three World Cup titles, in 1958, 1962 and 1970.