IOC's Bach, German sport pay tribute to former minister Schäuble

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach and the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) on Wednesday paid tribute to politician Wolfgang Schäuble, who died the previous day at age 81.

Schäuble oversaw sports in his function as German Interior Minister during two terms 1989-91 and 2005-2009, and he also was a key figure in German reunification in 1990. He was a member of the parliamentary sport commission since 1972.

"He always emphasised the unifying power of sport, which brings all people together without any discrimination. Wolfgang Schäuble lived the Olympic values," Bach said.

Bach, who led the DOSB from 2006 until his election as IOC president in 2013, named Schäuble "a valuable advisor for more than four decades", "whose high intellectuality paired with great pragmatism always made a deep impression on me."

Schäuble received the DOSB Honorary Medal in 2009 and the Olympic Order in 2020.

The DOSB said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter: "German sport is mourning the loss of one of its greatest supporters.

"Schäuble was instrumental in negotiating the Unification Treaty, which gave German sport two of its most important institutes, FES [Institute for Science and Development of Sports Equipment] and IAT [Institute for Applied Training Science].

"He was a great fighter against doping and initiated the 'Integration through Sport' programme in 1989, among other things."

Schäuble, also a former leader of the Christian Democratic Union, and an ex-finance minister and president of the German parliament, died on Tuesday evening in his sleep, his family told dpa.