Former FIFA president says World Cups were fixed

Joao Havelange, president of FIFA from 1974-1998 claims the 1966 and 1974 World Cups were fixed and produced the exact results his predecessor to the job, England's Sir Stanley Rous, wanted.

Havelange, who is Brazilian, claims that during both finals, the referees made decisions that allowed European nations to advance and help the host country win the cup (1966 England, 1974 West Germany).

In the 1966 semifinal between England and Argentina, a ref gave Argentina's captain Antonio Rattin a direct red for arguing. England won the match 1-0. In 1974 he points to missed calls that resulted in Pele getting injured and Brazil losing their chance to play Germany in the final.

There are been theories for years that some sort of fixing happened but there has never been an official as high ranking as Havelange to back them. So is this true or is this just the talk of a proud South American?

As far as I can see, he doesn't offer any sort of proof other then the 'isn't it strange this happened' kind. The fact that calls seemed to go to the home country more often then not is no surprise. The additional fact that it was European refs that made a number of the calls against South American nations just adds fuel to the speculation, but without any proof, there really is nothing to this story.

Even Pele gets robbed in Brazil

Pele, the soccer legend himself, was robbed by an armed gang earlier this month. Pele was the passenger in a car that was stuck in traffic when a gang of 10 armed men surrounded his vehicle. The men took his gold necklace, a mobile phone and a watch.

His driver was also robbed, however when the gang recognized Pele, they returned items to the driver but not to the super star.

"Pele, who is said to have remained calm during the robbery, apparently believed the men were high on drugs."

Police say these types of robberies are common in Brazil, which I'm sure is not what FIFA wants to hear ahead of the 2014 World Cup.

Pele - Beckham in US handled 'very, very bad', likes England for World Cup 2018

Pele believes that the way David Beckham was introduced to the US audience was 'very, very bad' because he was introduced as 'a scorer of goals.'

But Beckham is not the only problem he sees for MLS as he also believes that the current salary cap is hurting the game.

Pele believes MLS players' salaries need to be raised to the level of American football or baseball players. He also wants the lifting of restrictions on player movements, which are designed to stop wealthy teams from amassing the best players.

"This was one of the mistakes. They have to give freedom to the owners of the teams to buy the players and (chose) which players they want to put (out)," Pele said. "The big mistake in the league now is to control the level of the teams. If they opened this up, it would be much better.

The biggest problem with this move, of coarse, is that it is basically what NASL did back in the 70's, and that didn't end up so well.

Still, he is correct that if the league ever wants to see the attendance numbers of the Cosmos (50-60,000 per match), they will need to have more money to spend to attract top talent. However, at this point the league is not looking for such numbers, instead, they want to build a strong foundation for later improvements. Yet it is hard to argue that raising the salary cap a few million dollars per team is a bad idea.

In other Pele news, he thinks England is well suited to hold the 2018 finals. He sited stadiums as the main reason the country should get the Cup. He then went on to talk about his own country hosting the 2014 World Cup.

'It is fantastic. The Brazilians love football, they live football.
'When Brazil was nominated to get the World Cup it was fantastic.
'Of course there is a lot of controversy about the situation and people ask if Brazil is ready to host the World Cup.
'If you look now, no-one is able to play in the World Cup. If FIFA was there now they would say no, but seven years from now Brazil will be in shape to host the World Cup.'

'Son of Pelé' signs with Benfica

Freddy Adu has made his way to Europe and it looks like the expectations have followed him across the Atlantic as a local sports daily greeted his arrival with the headline "Son of Pelé."

News headlines aside, as many people have pointed out, this might just be the best move Adu could have made as Benfica has a great history of developing younger players and is in a league that is driven more by technical skills then pure physicality. Also, Adu will not be the big fish in the league or on his team so he will be able to develop outside the spotlight.

Portugal might not be one of the big leagues of Europe, but they are still very good. With Benfica often making it into the Champions' League (or at least the UEFA Cup), Adu should have many opportunities to prove himself against some of the best in the world, which might just lead to more US National Team time. If that happens, he would be in a better position to qualify for the work visa required to play in some of those bigger leagues.

MLS received a $2 million transfer fee for Adu and a percentage of any future transfer. Somewhere I saw a report that put Freddy's salary at $600,000, but I cannot find confirmation of that anywhere.

Update: If you want to keep up with Adu and Benfica, check out this blog.

Coming soon to a theater near you, the story of Pele

Fresh on the heals of such great movies as Bend It Like Beckham, Goal! The Dream Begins and Ladybugs, Hollywood is developing a movie about the life of Pele.

Pele's life is ripe for cinematic treatment. He reportedly was responsible for a 48-hour ceasefire during a civil war in Nigeria so that people could watch him play. He was declared a national treasure by the government of Brazil.

Hopefully they will deal with all sides of Pele's life or else this will just be a clip show. Don't get me wrong, I like Pele, but good bio picks show everything, not just the glamour.