Joao Havelange, who was the president of the world's football governing body FIFA from 1974 to 1998, has died at the age of 100.
Havelange died in Rio de Janeiro's Samaritano Hospital on Tuesday, the hospital said, without giving further details until authorized by his family.
The Brazilian was predecessor to Switzerland's Sepp Blatter and engineered the World Cup's expansion from 16 to 32 teams. Havelange was the first non-European to head the International Football Federation (FIFA) and helped to transform the group and its flagship event, the World Cup, into a multibillion-dollar enterprise.
There were six World Cups held during the Brazilian's tenure.
The former FIFA president resigned as the body's honorary president in April 2013 following an investigation into bribery allegations and was admitted to hospital the following year with a lung infection.
Havelange was also an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member from 1963 until 2011, when he resigned owing to ill health.
He also represented Brazil in swimming at the 1936 Olympics - the year he qualified as a lawyer - before his election to the IOC.
The Engenhao stadium in Rio de Janeiro, where many of the Rio Olympic events are currently underway, was named in his honor.
