By Daily Sports on October 15, 2018

International Olympic Committee (IOC) member and FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann passed away on Sunday (Manila time) at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina due to a heart attack.

He was 51.

“It is with great sorrow and shock that the International Olympic Committee has learned the death of Mr. Patrick Baumann, IOC member in Switzerland, in Buenos Aires,” the IOC said in a press statement. “Patrick Baumann was a central figure of the Olympic Movement.”

IOC president Thomas Bach said the shocking news “hit us all very hard.”

“We can hardly believe this terrible news. Particularly since, even today, we have seen him working hard, as we always knew him, for the sport he loved. We lose a young and sympathetic leader full of hope who was standing for the future of sport. Our thoughts are with his wife, his children and his family,” said Bach.

FIBA president Horacio Muratore expressed his sympathies as well and said “FIBA moved forward by leaps and bounds” under Baumann’s leadership.

To honor the death of Baumann, the IOC has asked the Olympic flag to be flown at half-mast at the IOC headquarters and at the Youth Olympic Games for three days. The IOC will also hold a memorial inside the Youth Olympic Village.

Baumann was a former player, coach and referee. He joined FIBA in 1994 as a lawyer and served as FIBA deputy secretary general from 1995-2002 before he was unanimously appointed by the FIBA Central Board as Secretary General in 2002. Five years later, Baumann became a member of the IOC where he actively participated in the development of the IOC throughout his mandate as a member of several commissions.

In the first ever FIBA World Basketball Summit in China, Baumann was a keynote speaker and talked about the development of basketball globally and the role played by National Federations and FIBA in achieving growth. (KweseESPN)

•Photo shows Patrick Baumann

Source Daily Sports

Posted October 15, 2018

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