Juan Antonio Samaranch, the 89-year-old former president of the International Olympic Committee, has been admitted to a Barcelona hospital in a "very serious" condition with acute heart problems.
"He is currently under close observation and his prognosis is very serious," Rafael Esteban, a medical director at the Quirón hospital in the Catalan capital, said in a statement today.
Samaranch, who was made the IOC's honorary life president when he stepped down in 2001, has suffered a number of health problems since his retirement and has been admitted to hospital several times.
Samaranch, who was appointed sports minister by Spain's fascist dictator Francisco Franco in 1967, was first elected president of the IOC in 1980.