Former IOC president Samaranch dies at 89

Juan Antonio Samaranch, a former International Olympic Committee (IOC), president, died today. He was 89.



The Quiron Hospital in Barcelona said Samaranch died after being admitted with heart problems.



Samaranch headed the IOC from 1980 to 2001. He retired as the second-longest serving president in the history of the IOC. He was succeeded by current president Jacques Rogge.



Samaranch was a reserved but shrewd dealmaker whose 21-year term was marked by the unprecedented growth of the Olympics and the Salt Lake City corruption scandal.



The Samaranch era spanned political boycotts, the end of amateurism, the explosion of commercialisation, a boom in the popularity of the games, the scourge of doping, and the Salt Lake crisis.



Ten IOC members resigned for accepting improper inducements from the Salt Lake bid committee. Samaranch then pushed through a series of reforms to clean up the IOC, including a ban on member visits to bid cities.



When Samaranch came to power in 1980, the IOC was virtually bankrupt and the Olympics were battered by boycotts, terrorism and financial troubles.



When he left, the IOC\'s coffers were bulging from billions of dollars in commercial revenues, the boycott era was over, and the games were entrenched as the world\'s favorite sports festival.