Rio politicians proposed a bill Wednesday that aims to remove the name of former FIFA president João Havelange from the city’s Olympic Stadium.
Why? Well, because Havelange, who served from 1974-98, stepped down from his honorary post last month after a report from the the Association’s ethics committee alleged he took bribes from the ISL sports marketing company.
“The name João Havelange is today linked to fraud investigations and scandals at FIFA,” City Councillor Renato Cinco, who co-authored the bill, told Reuters Wednesday. “It doesn’t make sense for a city which is going to host the World Cup and Olympic Games have the name of its stadium with this reference.”
Officials are suggesting a name change in honor of João Saldanha, who managed the Brazilian national soccer team during the 1970 World Cup qualifiers before falling out of favor because he was deemed difficult to work with by his assistant manager. And also the President of Brazil.
Saldanha then become a beloved sportswriter before dying in in 1990. Councillor Eliomar Coelho said the name change is “an attempt to resolve not just a matter of ethics… but also to bring fresh air to this stadium built on the basis of overblown costs and with structural problems.”
The stadium, which will host the 2016 track and field events but not the Opening and Closing ceremonies, was originally built in 2007 for the Pan American Games and will host World Cup matches in 2014.
