Joao Havelange Hospitalised: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

Former FIFA president Joao Havelange has been hospitalised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and is being treated for "respiratory problems."

Rio Hospital Samaritano confirmed the 99-year-old was checked in on Nov. 17 but released a short statement to announce Havelange was in a stable condition," per the Associated Press.

It was only on Friday that details of Havelange's hospitalisation came to light, and Omnisport (h/t Yahoo) reported a lung infection forced Havelange to be hospitalised in June of this year.

Havelange served as FIFA president between 1974 and 1998, a 24-year span that, according to Oluwashina Okeleji of BBC Sport, makes him the second-longest to reign in that position:

The Rio native was succeeded in the position by currently suspended president Sepp Blatter.