Mexican Mario Vazquez Rana, one of the leading former members of the International Olympic Committee, has died after a long illness at the age of 82, the IOC announced Monday.
A member of the IOC between 1991 and 2012, Vazquez Rana was also the long-time president of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) for 33 years before suddenly resigning in March 2012.
Carlos Padilla Becerra, president of the Mexican Olympic Committee (COM), released a statement on the COM website which paid tribute to her compatriot who was also a powerful newspaper magnate and businessman and competed in shooting at international level.
She described Vazquez Rana's death as "an irreparable loss". He added: "The Olympic family in Mexico and the world is in mourning for this loss.
"A man who had the intelligence to raise American sport to its highest level has gone away."
Vazquez Rana also held the powerful position of head of the Olympic Solidarity, an IOC programme that dealt with IOC broadcasting income, which involved multi-million dollar deals, and were linked to the National Olympic Committees which then channelled the income into various other projects.
He served as the president of the Mexican, and American Shooting Federations as well as holding the post of president of the Mexican Olympic Committee between 1974 and 2001.
Source: AFP