BERLIN (Germany) - Former FIBA referee Gunther Heinze, an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee, has passed away. He was 97.

A native of Dresden who played basketball while growing up, Heinze would go on to have a long career in sports.

A FIBA referee from 1952-56, he served as President of the Basketball Section (1952-1955) of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) and then became a member of the Presidium of the Basketball Association (1955-1970). It was during that time that he was on the FIBA Financial Commission (1956-1960). Heinze, who had a Political Science degree and a sports teacher's certificate, was a Vice-President of the FIBA Commission for International Organisation (1964-1972).

Heinze was a member of the German delegation at the FIBA EuroBasket 1953 that took place in Moscow, pictured below. 

The Germany delegation at the FIBA EuroBasket 1953 in Moscow

He served as Vice President of the National Olympic Committee of the GDR between 1955 and 1972, as well as from 1982 to 1989, and as Secretary General from 1973 to 1982.

Heinze was an IOC member from 1981 until 1992 when he became an IOC Honorary Member.

IOC President Thomas Bach said: "Gunther Heinze was a very engaged IOC Member for many years, whom I got to know during my time in the IOC Athletes' Commission. Up to his death, he followed developments in the Olympic Movement in a very interested and positive way. It was widely appreciated how he paved the way for the reorganization of sport in Germany after the reunification in 1990 by offering his resignation as an IOC Member."

FIBA