Juan Antonio Samaranch, the former president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has died at the age of 89, the Barcelona hospital where he was being treated said yesterday.

Spaniard Samaranch, who was made the IOC's honorary life president when he stepped down in 2001, was admitted to the Quiron hospital on Sunday with acute heart problems and passed away at 13.25 local time.

He had died as a result of "cardio-respiratory failure" hospital doctor Rafael Esteban said in a statement.

"I cannot find the words to express the distress of the Olympic Family," IOC president Jacques Rogge said.

"We have lost a great man, a mentor and a friend who dedicated his long and fulfilled life to the Olympics."

Samaranch, once one of the most powerful figures in world sport who wielded influence on the Olympic movement right up until his death, had suffered a number of health problems since his retirement and was admitted to hospital several times.

He ran the IOC with absolute authority for two decades and Barcelona's successful bid to host the 1992 Olympics was seen as his personal triumph.

Samaranch's supporters believe he showed political skill in a difficult period to lead the Games into the era of professional sport and turn it into a huge money-spinner.

His critics argue that many of the original values of the movement were obscured in the search for commercial success, leading to high-profile bribery and drugs scandals.

He stepped down in July 2001, 21 years after he had been elected as the IOC's seventh president, and was made life president when he handed power to Rogge.

"I am personally deeply saddened by the death of the man who built up the Olympic Games of the modern era, a man who inspired me, and whose knowledge of sport was truly exceptional," Rogge said in a statement.

"Thanks to his extraordinary vision and talent, Samaranch was the architect of a strong and unified Olympic Movement.

"I can only pay tribute to his tremendous achievements and legacy, and praise his genuine devotion to the Olympic Movement and its values."

MOC condolences

Lino Farrugia Sacco, MOC president, yesterday referred to Juan Antonio Samaranch as "a great friend of the Maltese Olympic Committee and one who was always aware of the progress local sport achieved in particular during the past two decades."

Samaranch first visited Malta on May 15, 1984 for the Council of Europe Conference for Ministers of Sport and on May 25, 1993 he officially opened the Malta GSSE.

In 1995, Samaranch was here for a short visit during which he was given the Honoris Causa by the University of Malta and on September 29, 1999 he attended the European Sports Ministers Conference that was held in Malta.

Factbox

• Born in Barcelona on July 17, 1920, Samaranch pursued a career in sports politics in former dictator General Francisco Franco's fascist Spain.

• He was Spanish chef de mission at three Olympic Games before winning a place on the IOC in 1966.

• After Franco's death, Samaranch was appointed as ambassador to the Soviet Union where important contacts among third world sports officials helped him succeed Lord Killanin as IOC president in 1980.

• At the start of his presidency, he steered the Olympic movement through two successive political boycotts; a US-led western boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics followed by an eastern bloc retaliation in 1984 at Los Angeles.

• In July 2001, he was succeeded as IOC president by Jacques Rogge.

• Samaranch was made the IOC's honorary life president in 2001. His son Juan Antonio Jr. is a member of the IOC.