Former IOC president Samaranch dies

Juan Antonio Samaranch, the 89-year-old former president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has died, the IOC said yesterday.

"The International Olympic Committee was deeply saddened to learn today of the death of Juan Antonio Samaranch," the IOC said in a statement.

Spaniard Samaranch, who was made the IOC's honorary life president when he stepped down in 2001, was admitted to hospital in Barcelona on Sunday with acute heart problems.

He died of cardio-respiratory failure.