The IOC and the Olympic movement have lost one of their most emblematic leaders. The Swiss Gian-Franco Kasper, president of the International Ski Federation (FIS) between 1998 and last June, died on Friday July 9 following respiratory problems. Hospitalized for several weeks, his condition had improved and he even had to go home. But his health suddenly deteriorated. He was 77 years old. After a very eclectic sporting career (alpine and cross-country skiing, skeleton, bobsleigh, horse riding and water skiing), then studies in psychology, philosophy and journalism at the University of Zurich, he became an editor at St. Moritz Kurier. After a detour through the tourism industry, as head of the Swiss National Tourist Office in Montreal, he embarked on a long career as a manager. Gian-Franco Kasper became secretary general of the FIS in 1975. Thirteen years later, he succeeded as president to his compatriot Marc Hodler, who went down in history for denouncing corruption at the IOC at the time of the Salt Lake Games. City in 2002. Joining the IOC in 2000, he remained a member until 2018, the year he joined the ranks of honorary members. Very free in his remarks, never late with a resounding declaration, he had hit the headlines in recent years, notably calling into question the “so-called global warming”, or suggesting in the media that the organization of the Winter Olympics was “easier in dictatorships”.
