RIO DE JANEIRO: Joao Havelange is to undergo further minor surgery on his right ankle in an attempt to combat the septic arthritis which has seen in a serious condition in the Samaritano hospital in Rio de Janeiro.

The 95-year-old former FIFA president is continuing to concern doctors according to a statement which reported that his condition was “still serious and requires care.”

It added: “The doctor Alcino Fonseca, an orthopedist, will make a second surgical drainage in the right ankle of the patient, in order to contain the infection. Joao Havelange is breathing without the help of devices but his blood pressure is being controlled.”

Havelange was admitted to hospital on March 18 with the bacterial infection which affects the joints, known as septic arthritis.

He resigned from the International Olympic Committee last December, ahead of an ethics panel hearing over his links with ISL, but remains honorary president of FIFA.

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