Overlijden erevoorzitter van het IOC Juan Samaranch schokt Europese sportwereld (en)

Juan Antonio Samaranch. EFE

With the death of the Honorary President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Juan Antonio Samaranch, a 'global figure in sport' as well as a 'universal Spaniard' has been lost, according to the Spanish Secretary of State for Sport, Jaime Lissavetzky; he was speaking at the end of the press conference following the Informal Meeting of Sports Ministers held in Madrid this Wednesday.

'This news is no less painful for being expected. Sincerely, I believe that we have lost not just a great man, but also a global figure in sport', the Secretary of State continued; for him, Samaranch was 'a great innovator' who 'was ahead of his time', for which reason 'you might say that a universal Spaniard has died, who has left us at a time when Spanish sport is doing so well'.

Minutes before the death, Mr Lissavetzky had already said that 'practically every Member State' had 'expressed their support for the family, wishing him well'.

'Juan Antonio Samaranch should be appreciated as someone who was capable of innovating throughout his life. He was not just a wonderful President of the International Olympic Committee; he was also a person who was ahead of his time and capable of setting up numerous organisations,' the Secretary of State underlined.

And he added: 'He gave the Olympic Games their true standing; it was he who set up the Court of Arbitration for Sport, as he thought there needed to be a body which, when there were differences, allowed the interests of both parties to be reconciled; and it was he who set up the World Anti-Doping Agency, thinking that governments were fighting the problem in one way, the sporting movement in another, and that it was necessary to join forces'.

The Honorary President of the IOC, Juan Antonio Samaranch, died this Wednesday in the intensive care unit of Barcelona's Quirón Hospital; he was admitted on Sunday 18 with acute heart problems.