MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd June, 2020) President of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) Janez Kocijancic died at the age of 78 as a result of a severe disease, the EOC said on Monday in a press release.
Kocijancic was the eighth president of the EOC and headed the organization since November 2017. Previously, he served as vice president for four years. Kocijancic joined the EOC in 2005 as a member of the Executive Committee.
"The European Olympic Committees (EOC) was deeply saddened today to learn of the death of President Janez Kocijancic, aged 78, following a courageous battle against a sudden and severe disease," the committee said.
The EOC recalled that Kocijancic led the successful staging in 2019 of the second edition of the European Games in the Belarusian capital of Minsk and European Youth Olympic Festivals in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku and the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo.
"He will be remembered for his professionalism and wise vision in profoundly understanding the diversity between the European countries. His cultural and historical knowledge was of great benefit to the sport movement in Europe and helped lead it to a prominent position globally," EOC Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi said, as quoted in the press release.
The EOC also expressed its deepest sympathies to Kocijancic's family � his wife Andreja, son Gorazd and daughter Nike.
