Death of Patrick Baumann, IOC Member

Death of Patrick Baumann, IOC Member

It is with the greatest sorrow and shock that the International Olympic Committee has learned of the death of Mr Patrick Baumann, IOC Member in Switzerland, in Buenos Aires. He was 51.

Patrick Baumann was a central figure in the Olympic Movement.

A former player, coach and referee, Patrick Baumann dedicated his life to basketball and to the sports community. He was Deputy Secretary General (1995-2002) of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), and then unanimously appointed as Secretary General by the FIBA Central Board in 2002, a role he had held since. He was greatly instrumental in the transformation and growth of the sport in the international basketball community, successfully supporting the popularisation of 3x3 basketball, for instance.

IOC President Thomas Bach said: “This is a great shock, which has 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.”

To honour the memory of Patrick Baumann, the IOC President has asked for the Olympic flag to be flown at half-mast at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne and at the IOC headquarters at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires for three days. The IOC will also hold a memorial in the Youth Olympic Village.

An IOC Member since 2007, he had been recently appointed as a member (2016-2017) then Chair (2017) of the Evaluation Commission for the Games of XXXIII Olympiad in 2024, then Vice-Chair of the Coordination Commission for the Games of XXXIII Olympiad Paris 2024 after the French capital won the right to host the Olympic Games 2024. He was also Chair of the IOC Coordination Commission Los Angeles 2028, helping the two host cities to work closely with each other.

A Swiss national, Patrick Baumann was also President of the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee.

Patrick Baumann had continuously and actively participated in the IOC’s development throughout his mandate, as a member in the following IOC Commissions: Evaluation for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in 2008 (as an IF representative) (2000-2001), Coordination for the Games of the XXX Olympiad London 2012 (2007-2012), International Relations (2008-2014), Sport and Law (2010-2014), Evaluation for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in 2020 (2013), Entourage (2014-2015), Marketing (2014-), Athletes' Entourage (2015-2018) and Legal Affairs (2017-2018).

Able to speak five languages, Patrick Baumann had a remarkable academic record: an MBA from the Business School of the University of Chicago, a Master’s in Sports Administration Management (MEMOS) from the University of Lyon in France and a law degree from the University of Lausanne.

A man of numerous talents, as a lawyer he always demonstrated a great sense of responsibility: he was appointed to the International Advisory Board of the World Academy of Sport in 2009, had been a member of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS) since 2010, and was also a member of the Executive Committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Patrick Baumann was elected as a Council member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) in 2011 and re-elected in 2015; he was elected as President of the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) in 2016; and as President of SportAccord in 2017.

The IOC expresses its deepest sympathies to Mr Baumann’s family.

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