**Former International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch is gravely ill with severe heart problems.**A spokesman for the Barcelona hospital where the 89-year-old is being treated said his condition is “very serious”.
The Spaniard was widely regarded as the most powerful man in sport when he headed the IOC from 1980 to 2001.
An astute figure on the global stage, he oversaw the commercialisation of the Olympics as athletes were finally allowed to embrace professionalism.
Only Pierre de Coubertin, the “father” of the modern Olympics and IOC chief from 1896 to 1925, held the post for a longer period.
Samaranch was admitted to Quiron Hospital on Tuesday.
Chief of internal medicine Rafael Esteban said he is under observation for “acute coronary insufficiency”.
Samaranch has suffered several health problems in recent years.
He spent 11 days in hospital in Switzerland with fatigue in 2001 after returning from an IOC session in Moscow, where Jacques Rogge was elected as his successor.
Samaranch was also treated in a Monaco hospital in September because of a slight reaction to fatigue, and spent two days in a hospital in Madrid in 2007 with high blood pressure.
He has also received dialysis treatment for kidney trouble.This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bbcnewsworldfullfeed?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bbcnewsworldfullfeed?d=dnMXMwOfBR0 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bbcnewsworldfullfeed?i=vk5OcdEqGLs:6F0R6kfe4Ok:V_sGLiPBpWU
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/bbcnewsworldfullfeed/~4/vk5OcdEqGLs