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Military Dictatorship
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A dança das cadeiras: a eleição de João Havelange à presidência da FIFA (1950-1974). In 1974, the Brazilian sports official João Havelange was elected FIFA's president in a tworound election, defeating the incumbent Stanley Rous. The upset, often attributed to a successful alliance with Asia, the Middle East and Africa, what at the time was referred to as the Third World surprised observers everywhere. The story told by Havelange himself describes a private odyssey in which the protagonist crisscrosses two thirds of the world canvassing for votes and challenging the institutional status quo. For many scholars, Havelange's triumph changed FIFA's (International Federation of Football Association) identity, gradually turning it into a global and immensely wealthy institution. Conversely, the election can be analyzed as a historically relevant event of social significance. It can be thought of as a political window by means of which the international dynamic of a specific moment in the Cold War can be perceived, especially the limitations and potentialities of the agency available to periphery countries at that time. The active role played by the military dictatorship and by segments of Brazilian civil society in the making of the campaign indicates the existence of a political project revolving around Havelange's candidacy. In this regard, this project seeks to understand which actors were involved in the election, how networks were shaped: and which political agents were directly engaged in the campaign.