IOC member and basketball passionate Gilady passes away

LONDON (United Kingdom) - The Olympic Movement and international basketball is in mourning following the death of broadcasting giant and long-time IOC memeber Alex Gilady.

An Israeli described by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach as a "pioneer of the modern Olympic Movement, particularly in regard to broadcasting", Gilady has passed away at the age of 79.

Gilady was a celebrated basketball commentator who possessed a burning passion for the sport, which was always reflected in his broadcasts of Maccabi Tel Aviv games. His first trip as a journalist following the Israeli powerhouse was for a FIBA European cup game between Spartak Brno and Maccabi Tel Aviv on 7 March 1968. FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis honoured Alex Gilady with the scoresheet of that game during his visit to Tel Aviv on 25 April 2021, on the occasion of the FIBA Europe Cup finals.

His contributions to international basketball included serving as Chairman of the FIBA TV Council from 2004 to 2019.

Gilady was an IOC member since 1994

Long before that, in 1994, Gilady, who had various leadership roles with broadcasting organizations, became a member of the International Olympic Committee.

He had been a part of the IOC's Radio and Television Commission since 1984, serving on the body until 2015.

Gilady served on IOC Coordination Commissions for the last five Summer Olympics, including as vice-chair for Tokyo 2020, and was a member of the Paris 2024 Coordination Commission from 2017. He attended several basketball games during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Bach paid tribute to Gilady.

"He has always stood up for the Olympic values, often when sometimes the situation was not easy for him," he said.

"We all appreciated his open personality and his frank way of speaking even if we did not always agree, because with Alex we always knew that he was speaking from the heart. 

"He was always a genuine person."

FIBA