Global General

Former IOC president Samaranch dies aged 89

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-04-21 20:01

Former IOC president Samaranch dies aged 89

In this July 16, 1980 file photo, the new President of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, center, of Spain, stands with Lord Killanin of Ireland, left, after he was elected president of the International Olympic Committee, in Moscow. Samaranch died Wednesday April 21, 2010, at a hospital in Barcelona, Spain. He was 89. [Photo/Agencies]

Samaranch's presidency was also clouded by controversy. He was hounded by critics who said the games were over-commercialized and riddled with performance-enhancing drugs, and that he perpetuated the IOC image of a private club for a pampered elite.

British author Andrew Jennings, one of Samaranch's most virulent critics, wrote that "corruption became the lubrication of his Olympic industry" and that he "fleeced sport of its moral and monetary value."

Samaranch's reputation was scarred most of all by the Salt Lake City scandal, which led to the expulsion of six IOC members and resignation of four others who benefited from more than $1 million in cash, gifts, scholarships and other favors doled out during the Utah capital's winning bid for the 2002 Winter Games.

"What I regret, really regret, is what happened in Salt Lake City," he said.

"It obviously was a terrible blow to the organization, a terrible blow to him," MacAloon said. "He helped select many of the members who were found guilty of bribe-taking ... It will be a lasting footnote to his presidency."

Samaranch used the crisis to push through a package of reforms designed to make the IOC more modern, open and democratic, including a ban on member visits to bid cities.

"We used this crisis to change the structure of the IOC," he said. "Maybe without this crisis, this would not have been possible."

In December 1999, Samaranch became the first IOC president to testify in Congress, enduring three hours of grilling on Capitol Hill from lawmakers skeptical of the reforms.

The 2000 Sydney Olympics, described by Samaranch as the best ever, seemed to take the heat off the IOC and restore faith in the games.

"We showed the world that the Olympic movement after the crisis is even stronger and with even more prestige than before," he said.

Pound said the scandal should not tarnish Samaranch's legacy.

"Once the corner is turned, the progress and the accomplishments in historical terms will supplant the fact that he was on watch when the Salt Lake problem arose," he said.

Samaranch's past was also a target for critics. Jennings and others denounced him for serving the Franco dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s.

Samaranch angrily defended himself, saying it was up to Spaniards, not foreign journalists, to judge his record. He said he had only a modest role as director general of sports and parliamentary leader of the Falangist movement.

"Maybe some critics pushed me to be president for 21 years," Samaranch said. "I have to thank the critics. Maybe without the critics, I had to leave the IOC before."

Looking back, Samaranch acknowledged he could have retired earlier.

He considered stepping down after the 1992 Olympics in his home city of Barcelona and again after the centennial games in Atlanta in 1996. Each time, encouraged by his supporters, he chose to continue. Twice, he had the age limit changed to allow him to stay on.

As honorary IOC president for life, Samaranch remained active in the Olympic movement even after he stepped down. He chaired the board of the Olympic Museum in Lausanne and regularly attended IOC meetings around the world.

His wife, Maria Teresa, died from cancer in 2000 at 67, shortly after Samaranch presided over the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics. Samaranch flew to Barcelona to be at her bedside, but she died while he was still in the air. He later returned to Sydney for the remainder of the games.

In addition to his 50-year-old son, Samaranch is survived by a daughter, Maria Teresa. Both of his children and his partner, Luisa Sallent, were by his side when he passed.

As a youth, Samaranch competed in field hockey, boxing and football. He became an IOC member in 1966 and was vice president from 1974-78.

Samaranch served as honorary chairman of La Caixa savings bank in Spain.

"He will have his place in history with Olympism," Juan Antonio Jr. said. "I think he's been very recognized in life and that will only grow with his death."