Former Olympic Games chief Samaranch dies at 89

Juan Antonio Samaranch, who during a 21-year tenure overseeing the Olympic Games dealt with boycotts by the US and the Soviet Unionand a bribery scandal tied to a host city, has died. He was 89.

 

 

The Spaniard died at a hospital in Barcelona after being admitted on Sunday with heart problems.

 

 

Only Pierre de Coubertin, the Frenchman who founded the modern Olympics, served a longer term than Mr Samaranch, who was president of the International Olympic Committee from 1980 to 2001.

 

 

It was a turbulent two decades for the Games and for Mr Samaranch, who faced criticism for his earlier participation in the government of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.

 

 

Corporate sponsorship and television revenue soared during his tenure, as did the desire of cities around the world to host the Games, which had endured a run of financial losses.

 

 

The 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, the last under Mr Samaranch, reaped broadcast revenue of $US1.3 billion. Sponsorship income rose more than five-fold between 1988 and 2000.

 

 

Detractors pointed to the increased use of drugs by athletes and gifts accepted by IOC members who were considering applications to host the 2002 Winter Games.

 

 

Mr Samaranch “wasn’t interested in the issue” of drug use, Dick Pound, then chief of the World Anti-Doping Agency, told Reuters in 2007. Mr Pound had served as a member of the IOC´s executive board under Mr Samaranch, who shot back that Mr Pound was bitter because he had lost his 2001 bid to become the next IOC president.

 

 

Mr Samaranch said his commitment to fighting drugs was shown by the IOC’s role in creating the anti-doping agency as well as the Court for Arbitration for Sport, which handles disputes over alleged drug use and other disciplinary matters.

 

 

He also pointed to the IOC’s decision to strip the gold medal of Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson at the 1988 Olympics after a positive drug test.

 

 

Mr Samaranch’s most trying stretch was when scandal arose from how the organisation, in 1995, awarded the 2002 Winter Games to Salt Lake City. Subsequent investigations found Salt Lake City bid officials had given $US1 million in gifts to IOC members and their families. Ten IOC members were expelled or resigned.

 

 

Noted as a behind-the-scenes lobbyist, Mr Samaranch visited all 199 states or countries that made up the IOC membership during his presidency.

 

 

His home for much of the time was Suite 309 at the five-star Palace Hotel in Lausanne, the Swiss city where the IOC is based.

 

 

Among the vast changes under Mr Samaranch´s leadership, the IOC’s assets grew to $US900 million in 2001 from $US2 million in 1980, John Findling and Kimberly Pelle wrote in their Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement. The role of women, in the IOC and in Olympic competition, also grew during his presidency, they said. – (BLOOMBERG)