Joao Havelange, the former Fifa president
who has died at his home in Rio de Janeiro aged 100, could be regarded as the
unlikely godfather of African football.
He famously owed the developing world for
his presidential election in 1974 - and despite the allegations of corruption
that mired his career towards the end of his life, he is credited with huge
globalisation of the game.
The
canny sports administrator had done his maths on the voting system, realising
that he needed to court Africa and Asia in order to win - an insight lost on
his main rival in the leadership contest for football's world governing body.
The
Brazilian came to power on the back of African votes - which then accounted for
nearly a third of the total - primarily because his predecessor, Englishman
Stanley Rous, had alienated the continent through his unremitting support for
apartheid South Africa.
His
standing was greatly boosted by the three World Cups Brazil won under his
control as Brazilian Sports Confederation president, and the former Olympian
adroitly exploited the issue and pledged to kick out South Africa if he took
control.
There
were other promises to the continent as well: An expanded World Cup, new youth
tournaments and, among others, developmental help.
So,
after his election, it was time to give back.
With Rous out of the way, Havelange dealt
with South Africa fairly swiftly, expelling the country from Fifa in 1976, a
ban which lasted until 1992, as the end of apartheid neared.
He
also introduced junior tournaments - handing Tunisia the first hosting rights,
in 1977, for what is called the Under-20 World Cup today.
Eight
years later, he ensured Africa had the same representation as Europe and South
America in the Under-17 World Cup, in contrast to the senior World Cup, as the
tournament launched in 1985.
He
was slightly hamstrung with his World Cup offer despite overseeing vast global
expansion - having partnered with Horst Dassler, the son of the Adidas founder
and the father of sports sponsorship.
With
the help of improving television broadcast technology and football's hugely
attractive lure for sponsors, the pair greatly enhanced football's global
reach, Fifa's coffers and - as has been well documented - those of Havelange
too.
Africa
was not a huge market for sponsors at the time though and had to patiently wait
for its World Cup places to increase from one to two in 1982, when the finals
expanded from 16 to 24 teams.
FROM 20 FOOTBALLS TO $500,000
In
the interim, Havelange offered a host of developmental programmes and increased
funding.
Fifa's
finances had previously been so threadbare Rous had been limited on one
occasion to handing out 20 footballs to one African country.
Today,
each African country receives $500,000 (£380,000) a year as a continuation of
the funding grants initiated by Havelange.
A
year after his election, Havelange chose someone who came to love African
football (and its voting power) to head Fifa's global developmental work:
SeppBlatter.
In
1976, the Fifa technical director's first overseas trip was to Ethiopia where
he ran an administrative course.
When
the Swiss protege replaced Havelange in the 1998 Fifa elections, he continued
to assist Africa in a variety of ways.
Prominent
among them was the change to Fifa's method of determining a World Cup host, a
decision taken to ensure that Africa got the World Cup, having controversially
missed out on the 2006 finals.
As
the 2010 finals kicked off in South Africa, the work started by Havelange in
Africa had reached its current zenith.
Like
the organisation he led for so long, Havelange was far from faultless but his
campaign manifesto forced him to help Africa - which he did, despite various
delays.
Today,
the five World Cup places that he awarded Africa during his reign is the tally
the continent still holds.
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