Havelange discharged from hospital after two months

Former president Joao Havelange was discharged from hospital on Monday after a two-month stay which at one point included a spell in intensive care.

The 96-year-old, who was FIFA president from 1974 to 1998, had been suffering from septic arthritis in his ankle.

"The patient was examined and was in condition which allowed him to be discharged," said the Samaritano hospital in a statement.

Havelange had at one point developed heart and breathing problems due to the infection with doctors describing his condition as serious.

Havelange, a former international swimmer, was an International Olympic Committee member until December, quitting days before an ethics hearing into his conduct during his FIFA presidency.

He was under an IOC investigation for his links to FIFA's former marketing agency International Sport and Leisure which went bankrupt in 2001 with debts of around $300 million.

A BBC Panorama television programme alleged in 2010 that Havelange had accepted money from ISL for granting lucrative World Cup contracts.