Podcast Summary:

New Books Network – Luiz Guilherme Burlamaqui, "The Making of Global FIFA: Cold War Politics and the Rise of João Havelange to the FIFA Presidency, 1950–1974"
Host: Keith Rathbone
Guest: Luiz Guilherme Burlamaqui
Date: January 14, 2026

Overview

This episode features historian Luiz Guilherme Burlamaqui discussing his book, "The Making of Global FIFA," which examines how Cold War politics and João Havelange’s unique strategies propelled him to the FIFA presidency in 1974. The conversation traverses Havelange's self-mythologizing, Brazil's ambitions as a model of development, and the often-overlooked broader historical forces shaping global football governance.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Genesis and Motivation Behind the Book

• Early Research Interests (03:22)
  • Burlamaqui began his research focusing on the political elites of Brazilian football, interviewing club presidents.
  • He was initially uninterested in FIFA, preferring to explore local politics tied to Rio de Janeiro clubs.
  • A pivotal interview with João Havelange shifted his focus; he recognized Havelange’s consistent, self-serving narrative and saw potential for deeper research.
  • The broader context: Brazil was in the global spotlight, hosting the World Cup and Olympics, fueling academic interest in sports studies.

"I started to realize that [Havelange] was saying what he said to me to everyone, and kind of like blew my attention. Like, why does this person have such a strong idea about himself?" — Burlamaqui (04:24)

2. Rethinking FIFA's “Turning Point” — Not Just Havelange

• Challenging the “Earthquake Moment” of 1974 (09:02)
  • The common narrative positions Havelange’s 1974 election as a seismic shift turning FIFA modern and global.
  • Burlamaqui argues that Havelange’s mythmaking as sole change agent is misleading.
  • The real history is less about a sudden shift and more a “starting point” for ongoing processes seeded much earlier.

"For me, it's not a turning point, but it's pretty much like a starting point." — Burlamaqui (10:08)

• Self-Narrative and Erasure of Other Agents (11:00–16:00)
  • Havelange told the same story to everyone, positioning himself as FIFA’s transformative figure, erasing contributions of others (e.g., Stanley Rous, developers of FIFA's outreach).
  • Institutional narratives and mythmaking—especially post-1994 World Cup—solidified Havelange’s centrality in the history books.
  • The idea of history being written from the vantage point of the present (e.g., in the afterglow of US ’94).

"He was really brilliant in a way that he presented himself as the center of this narrative." — Burlamaqui (12:17)
"They're all also part of this contest...writing history from that 1994 present as well. But there's so much between 74 and 1994." — Burlamaqui (14:40)

3. Translating and Publishing Across Languages

• The Complexities of International Scholarship (17:38)
  • original work was in Portuguese, with significant differences between the Portuguese and English versions (one chapter about FIFA as a political entity is omitted in English).
  • Navigating funding and publishing restrictions between Brazilian and Anglo/European academic worlds.
  • Importance of networks like Philippe Vonnard and Amanda Schumann's "International Sporti" for translation, publication, and international exchange.

"For the Brazilian to secure the funding and for European and United States presses, they want...the original one. It's very tricky...but thanks to Philip and Armando...I was able to have this much more smooth." — Burlamaqui (20:00)

4. Unpacking the Historical Evolution of FIFA and Havelange's Rise

a. FIFA in the 1960s and the Myth of Stasis

• Stanley Rous’s Forgotten Role (26:57–32:23)
  • Tradition views Rous as a conservative resisting change, but sources reveal he was a connector post-WWII, instrumental in globalizing football.
  • Rous’s failure to immediately become FIFA president attributed to institutional limits (e.g., paid vs. honorary roles).
  • New nations (Africa, Asia) shifting FIFA’s political landscape.

"He was much more a connector...a very important way of keeping England as a leader international after World War II." — Burlamaqui (27:40) "Stanley Ross was not able to [become President immediately]...it took him six years as almost like a shadow..." — Burlamaqui (29:40)

• FIFA’s Early Development Programs & International Pressures (35:26)
  • Technical development funding aimed at global football expansion.
  • FIFA and IOC also confronted external challenges, e.g., alternative games organizers.

b. Havelange's Conservative Realism

• Political Chameleons and the Latin American “Centro” (38:59–42:11)
  • Havelange’s politics: always supporting the powers in charge—“if there’s government, I’m in favor”.
  • Conservative at heart, but adaptable, he navigated complex domestic and international tides.
  • His ultimate dream was IOC leadership, only settling on FIFA after realizing IOC was “too European.”

"He always wanted to be in the side that's winning. Maybe I was. So there's this political position in Latin America...we call centro..." — Burlamaqui (39:02) "He usually says something, I don't care if they are left, yellow, black, white, they are the presidents..." — Burlamaqui (40:49)

c. 1966: The Crucible of Havelange’s Ambitions

• Brazil’s 1966 Defeat as Political Opportunity (44:43–51:29)
  • With Brazil's loss in the World Cup, Havelange faced domestic criticism, threatened leadership.
  • Positioned himself—and Brazil’s defeat—as victims of foreign refereeing bias, seeking regional solidarity.
  • The “Mexico Plan”: building a coalition across South America, hinging his future on Brazil winning in 1970.
  • Havelange gambled everything on success in the 1970 World Cup; if Brazil failed, his career was likely over.

"Sometimes we don't win it...maybe that changed after 2014, I don't know. But that was pretty much the discourse: the World cup belongs to Brazil." — Burlamaqui (44:43) "He was trying to create this narrative that not only Brazil was robbed, but pretty much South America was robbed in 66 World cup..." — Burlamaqui (47:12)

• Creating a South American Coalition (highlights)
  • For the first time, South American federations found common ground post-1966.
  • Football outcomes shaped political alliances and strategies—rare direct link between results on field and boardroom maneuvering.

d. The 1970s: Brazil as a Model for the World

• Staging Modernization (56:19–64:22)
  • Havelange and Brazilian state deploy football (especially the “Mini World Cup”) to project an image of development, harmony, and “racial democracy.”
  • Brazil aggressively courted delegates from Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia with an alternative to both capitalist and communist developmental models, promoting Brazil as an aspirational hybrid.

"There was a lot of optimism. There was a lot of expectations, political desire as well, that Brazil becomes a bigger and bigger party in the Cold War..." — Burlamaqui (56:40) "If you look to the United States, you have the segregation laws; South Africa, apartheid; and Brazil has these players, all these national teams coming together. That was not happening to other national teams at this time." — Burlamaqui (59:12)

• Myth and Reality of Brazilian Racial Democracy
  • Brazil’s image abroad as a racial melting pot was leveraged to contrast against U.S. segregation and South African apartheid, even as domestic realities did not fully support the image.

e. The Election and International Order

• 1974: Secrecy, Struggle, and Victory (66:50–67:24)
  • The election that brought Havelange to power was secretive and fraught.
  • Burlamaqui reconstructs, as closely as possible, how alliances and global events enabled Havelange’s victory.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Havelange’s self-narration:

  “He’s really consolidated about himself, about his role in FIFA, about his role as a football president…he was saying what he said to me to everyone.” — Burlamaqui (04:24)

• On 1974 as not a turning point, but a process:

  “For me, it's not a turning point, but it's pretty much like a starting point.” — Burlamaqui (10:08)

• On politics and adaptability:

  "He always wanted to be in the side that's winning...You don't criticize anything, you just are." — Burlamaqui (41:10)

• On football defeats shaping politics:

  "He lost this one inside Brazil...he was trying in Brazil to push, no, I wasn't the main responsible for this defeat. The main responsible was the bad refereeing from FIFA." — Burlamaqui (45:25)

Important Timestamps

• 03:22–09:02: How the project originated; unique research approach; Havelange as chief narrator of his story.
• 09:02–16:16: Debunking the myth of the 1974 "earthquake"; self-narration and its effects on football historiography.
• 17:38–24:53: The challenges of translation and international publication of Brazilian academic work.
• 26:57–35:26: Re-examining Stanley Rous, FIFA’s politics of decolonization, and overlooked development programs.
• 38:59–43:47: Havelange’s political flexibility and pragmatic alliances; Latin American “centro” as a philosophy.
• 44:43–51:29: 1966 World Cup defeat, narrative creation, and the gamble of betting political future on team success.
• 56:19–64:22: Brazil’s global projection in the 1970s; sporting diplomacy and narrative of racial democracy.
• 66:50–67:24: Methodological difficulties in tracking FIFA election influence; legacy implications.

Closing Thoughts & Future Directions

• Burlamaqui is working on an edited collection about football presidents globally, highlighting their political roles across societies.
• Plans to publish further on FIFA’s political-historical framework and the cut sections from the original Portuguese edition.
• Emphasizes the need for more nuanced, politically aware histories of organizations like FIFA—beyond their “official” narratives.

"Too many histories of FIFA are kind of sui generis...rather than as a political history that's connected to these broader forces. That’s necessary." — Keith Rathbone (71:07)

For Listeners

Burlamaqui’s book disentangles the popular mythmaking around FIFA’s globalization, focusing on structural processes, lesser-known actors, and how football’s global rise mapped onto—and sometimes drove—larger geopolitical changes. Listeners interested in sports, politics, and modern global history will find this rich and revealing.