Bewerbungen » And Howard ran it in from the 1 to

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Joao Havelange, who as president of FIFA for two decades transformed soccers governing body into a multibillion-dollar business and a hotbed for subsequent corruption that damaged its reputation, has died. He was 100.Havelange, who was suffering from a respiratory infection, died early Tuesday while Rio de Janeiro was hosting the Olympic Games, according to the Samaritano Hospital.In 2009, Havelange led off Rios bid presentation to the International Olympic Committee in Copenhagen by inviting the members to vote to join me in celebrating my 100th birthday at the 2016 Games in Brazil.The Brazilian flag was lowered to half-staff at Olympic venues and the IOC said its thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Havelange.FIFA President Gianni Infantino lavished praise on Havelange, saying the whole football community should be grateful for his contribution.During his 24 years as FIFA president football became truly global, reaching new territories and bringing the game to all corners of the world, Infantino said.Havelange expanded the World Cup from 16 to 32 teams and made it one of sports most important events. He organized six World Cups as FIFA president from 1974 to 1998, when Sepp Blatter replaced him. He secured lucrative broadcast deals, brought nations into FIFA and created the womens World Cup.Blatter said Havelange will always be synonymous with the expansion of soccer and turning it into the universal language.Football thus owes him a huge debt of gratitude, Blatter said in a statement.Thanks to Joao Havelange, football is the worlds leading sport -- not only from a social, cultural and economic perspective, but also in terms of its political impact.But with more cash for football also came widespread financial wrongdoing by its top officials, including Havelange. In 2013, FIFA ethics court judge Joachim Eckert said Havelanges conduct had been morally and ethically reproachable.Havelange resigned in December 2011 as a member of the IOC just days before its leadership was expected to suspend him and rule on claims that he took a $1 million kickback.A 100-year-old man has died today and I think it would be entirely inappropriate to discuss that (wrongdoing), IOC spokesman Mark Adams said.Havelange was never punished by FIFA. He was allowed to resign his honorary presidency of FIFA in 2013.If someone had advised him to pay himself a salary, none of this would have come up, said Patrick Nally, a FIFA marketing consultant in the 1970s. What Havelange did for FIFA was extraordinary. He was not a bandit, he was a visionary.But three of FIFAs most notorious officials -- his former son-in-law Ricardo Teixeira, Chuck Blazer and Jack Warner -- joined FIFAs executive committee during Havelanges presidency. All three were subsequently swept up in corruption investigations by Swiss and U.S. authorities last year that also brought the end of Blatters 17-year presidency.Havelange was implicated with Teixeira in taking millions of dollars in kickbacks from World Cup broadcasting contracts. Both left FIFA between 2012 and 2013 to avoid sanctions from the soccer bodys ethics committee. Teixeira has been indicted by the U.S. Justice Department on corruption charges but has stayed out of reach of American investigators, remaining in Brazil, which typically does not extradite its citizens.Havelange was cited as a personal hero in soccer by Blazer, the most senior U.S. official at FIFA and his former executive committee colleague. Blazers testimony admitting widespread corruption charges was key to the sprawling U.S. investigation implicating FIFA. Blazer is seriously ill and awaiting sentencing.Warner, a longtime Havelange ally, also is indicted and is fighting extradition to the U.S. from his native Trinidad and Tobago.FIFA was a small organization with about a dozen employees when Havelange took over at its Zurich headquarters in 1974.I found an old house and US$20 in the kitty, Havelange told FIFAs website. On the day I departed 24 years later, I left property and contracts worth over US$4 billion. Not too bad, Id say.He was re-elected president six times, capitalizing on his contact-building across world football. FIFAs membership expanded by nearly one-third, to more than 200 nations and territories, under Havelange. China was readmitted in 1980 having left the organization in 1958.I clocked 26,000 hours in the air, the equivalent of spending three years in an airplane, Havelange said. The only country I never visited was Afghanistan, because they wouldnt let me in.The son of a Belgian father and a Brazilian mother, Havelange was a top-notch athlete before becoming a sports administrator. He swam for Brazil at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and played on its water polo team at the Helsinki Games in 1952.He headed the Brazilian football confederation for nearly two decades, when Brazils national team won its first three World Cup titles in 1958, 1962 and 1970.Havelange was the first non-European head of FIFA and its longest serving president, stepping down at age 82.In a 1999 survey by the IOC, Havelange was voted among the top three sports leaders of the 20th century, behind former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch and modern Olympics founder Pierre de Coubertin. He joined the IOC in 1963.Havelange had a heart pacemaker implanted in 2006. He was hospitalized for more than two months, including several weeks in intensive care, in 2012 because of an infection in his right ankle. He was back in hospital to July to undergo treatment for pneumonia.Rest in peace, Joao, Blatter said. Football -- your passion, my mission -- is in good shape. You should be proud.---AP Sports Writers Rob Harris in Rio de Janeiro and Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.Laken Tomlinson Super Bowl Jersey . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. Ahkello Witherspoon Super Bowl Jersey . Ivanovic was leading 7-5, 1-0 when Hantuchova withdrew after falling 0-40 behind in the second game. The match started slowly for Ivanovic, who surrendered her first two serves as Hantuchova took a 5-3 lead. http://www.thesf49ersshoponline.com/Youth-Jimmie-Ward-49ers-Jersey/ . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. Custom 49ers Super Bowl Jerseys . Jordan Lynch, the all-purpose Heisman Trophy finalist from Northern Illinois, failed to make it into that exclusive club. Y.A. Tittle Super Bowl Jersey .35 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. Plouffe batted .254 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs in 477 at-bats last season, his second as a regular in the lineup.CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bears were struggling to complete a pass, let alone find the end zone.Good thing for them, they were playing the 49ers.Jordan Howard ran for 117 yards and a career-high three touchdowns and the Bears handed San Francisco its 11th straight loss, 26-6 on a snowy Sunday.The 49ers (1-11) extended their franchise-record losing streak and set a club low with 6 yards net passing on a day when Colin Kaepernick got lifted for Blaine Gabbert.The Bears (3-9) finished with a season high in points and picked up a rare win in a matchup between two of the NFLs worst teams.It does feel good, coach John Fox said. Hats off to those guys in that locker room. ... Different guys had to step in and did a very nice job.Matt Barkley , making his second start with Jay Cutler sidelined by a season-ending shoulder injury, went nearly the entire first half without a completion.But he adjusted his arm angle because of the conditions, led a touchdown drive near the end of the second quarter and finished 11 of 18 for 192 yards. By the end of the game, his confidence was soaring.Probably at an all-time high in this league, said Barkley, drafted by Philadelphia in 2013 when Chip Kelly was coaching the Eagles. Just knowing that I can play, that we can make plays as an offense.Howard , who came in with two rushing touchdowns, scored on a 1-yard run near the end of the first half.A fifth-round draft pick from Indiana, he added a 2-yard touchdown on the opening drive of the third and a 5-yard run midway through the quarter.Howards three rushing TDs are tied for the second-most by a Bears rookie in a game. Willie Galimore (1957) and Rashaan Salaam (1995) also did it. The only Bears rookie to rush for more in a game was Hall of Famer Gale Sayers in 1965.Leonard Floyd and Akiem Hicks each had two sacks to help Chicago stop a three-game slide.STREAK CONTINUESThe 49ers havent won since they shut out Los Angeles in the opener, and its not clear who will start at quarterback next week against the Jets.Kelly wasnt tipping his hand. Kaepernick said the switch surprised him.Its not my place to really argue on the sideline, said Kaepernick, who found out from quarterbacks coach Ryan Day. I want to make sure I do what I can to help this team win and that was the decision that was made so I am going to support my teammates.ddddddddddddKaepernick completed just 1 of 5 passes for 4 yards and was sacked five times. He also ran for 20 yards on six attempts before Gabbert replaced him in the fourth quarter.Gabbert was 4 of 10 for 35 yards and sacked for a safety near the end of the game.Carlos Hyde ran for 92 yards, but the 49ers slide continued.ROUGH STARTThe Bears led 7-6 after a first half that was ugly.Neither team completed a pass in the first quarter -- something that hadnt happened in an NFL game since the Jets and Patriots did it on Nov. 13, 1988, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.San Francisco had minus-14 yards passing in the half and didnt get a completion until Kaepernick connected with Vance McDonald on a 4-yarder midway through the second quarter.Barkley went almost the entire half without one before completing four for 64 yards on a touchdown drive that gave Chicago a 7-6 lead.He finally hit Deonte Thompson with a short pass with 1:43 remaining. Two completions to Cameron Meredith -- a 28-yarder and 17-yarder -- put the ball on the San Francisco 12. And Howard ran it in from the 1 to give Chicago a 7-6 lead with 31 seconds left after Tramaine Brock got flagged for pass interference against Daniel Brown in the end zone.QUOTABLEI was just watching how the ball was coming off his hands and what our chances were completing it. -- Kelly on the lack of pass calls for Kaepernick.INJURIESBears WR Marquess Wilson left with a strained groin. ... C Cody Whitehair rolled his ankle early in the fourth quarter when he got pushed back and fell awkwardly over Howard. He returned to the game and said he was fine. ... Floyd was back in the lineup after missing a game because of a concussion. ... LG Josh Sitton was active but did not start after missing a game because of a right ankle injury. ... WR Alshon Jeffery served the third game of a four-game suspension for violating the NFLs policy on performance enhancers, while LB Jerrell Freeman served his second game.UP NEXT49ers: Host New York Jets on Sunday.Bears: Visit Detroit on Sunday.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '