Rebellion is the act of resisting convention. A Beautiful Rebellion is resisting convention to provoke a movement to capture our collective capacity to empower.
João Havelange, then FIFA President, launched the first ever Women's World Cup in 1991 in China, which the USA won after beating Norway thanks to a game-winning end of regulation time goal from Michelle Akers. Havelange's initiative came over 60 years after the first men's World Cup in 1930 and sparked the future of international stars like Mia Hamm, Akers, Julie Foudy, Kristine Lilly, Brandi Chastain and April Heinrichs (USA), Sun Wen (China), Hege Riise and Bente Nordby (Norway) and Pia Sundhage (Sweden).
Twenty years after that first WWC, the 2011 tournament in Germany showcased how much the women's game has progressed with increased parity between nations and new threats emerging in the semi-finals (notably Japan, France and Sweden). Havelange's vision was catalytic to growing the game by providing a global platform to showcase the talent and athletic expression of female footballers.
Not afraid to bring new thinking to table, he was the first non-European to hold the FIFA Presidency. In his home country of Brazil, a stadium is named in his honour - watch for it in the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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