François Carrard, legal doyen of Olympic sport, died at the age of 83
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) – François Carrard, the former longtime IOC director general who oversaw reforms following the Salt Lake City application scandal, has died, the Olympic body said on Monday. He was 83.
The International Olympic Committee said it was “deeply sad” to learn of Carrard’s death. The cause was not given, although Carrard was known to have had health problems in the past few months.
Carrard has been one of the most influential sports attorneys in Switzerland and around the world for over four decades since he first advised the IOC on legal issues.
Carrard’s former colleagues and protégés continue to work on landmark cases and hold key positions in the legal framework of global sport, including the World Anti-Doping Agency, the Court of Arbitration for Sport and international umbrella organizations for Olympic sport.
Apart from sports, the urbane and multilingual lawyer was a fixture in Swiss cultural and economic life, including as director of the Montreux Jazz Festival.
“François Carrard was a brilliant man with immense analytical skills and a very broad horizon,” said IOC President Thomas Bach in a statement. “He was always a great guide and trusted advisor and became a personal friend.”
From 1989 to 2003 Carrard was Director General of the IOC, initially under the presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch, then for two years in transition to the leadership of Jacques Rogge.
During that time, he led the IOC through seven Olympic editions, from the 1992 Albertville Winter Games to the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games, which was one of the most difficult preparations of any Olympic Games.
In the last few years of Carrard’s official tenure with the IOC, it has been rocked by the scandal caused by some members accepting favors related to the successful Salt Lake City offer.
The scandal led to a series of reforms, including the establishment of an ethics committee, the introduction of new office and age limits, and a ban on membership for members in candidate cities.
Carrard continued to advise the IOC until his death as head of the law firm Kellerhals Carrard, based in Lausanne, home of the Olympic Games.
One of his most recent projects was to lead a governance reform steering body at the World Swimming Organization, FINA, which was approved last month. He took on a similar task for FIFA in 2015 after bribery scandals in the international football business.
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