Patrick Baumann, secretary general of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), passed away at the age of 51 on Sunday from a heart attack while attending the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

"It is with great sorrow and shock that the International Olympic Committee has learned the death of Mr. Patrick Baumann, IOC member in Switzerland, in Buenos Aires. Patrick Baumann was a central figure of the Olympic Movement," said the IOC in a statement.

"We can hardly believe this terrible news. Particularly since, even today, we have seen him working hard, as we always knew him, for the sport he loved. We lose a young and sympathetic leader full of hope who was standing for the future of sport. Our thoughts are with his wife, his children and his family," said Thomas Bach, president of the IOC.

Al Panlilio, president of the Basketball Federation of the Philippines (SBP) and also a close friend of Baumann has also expressed his feelings for the loss in a statement: "It is with great sadness that I share the tragic news of the sudden death of FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann in Buenos Aires, Argentina during the Youth Olympic Games. The last time I saw him in Xi'an, China during the FIBA World Basketball Summit, he was so full of life and shared his visions in how to make Basketball the biggest sport globally. He is a big loss to the basketball community. I offer deepest condolences to the family."

The IOC asked for the Olympic flag to be flown at half-mast at both the organization's headquarters in Lausanne to pay respect to Baumann, Switzerland and at the Youth Olympic Games for three days. A memorial ceremony is to be held in the Youth Olympic Village by the IOC.

Baumann joined FIBA in 1994 as a lawyer and worked as the organization's deputy secretary general from 1995. In 2002, he was appointed as the secretary general by FIBA's Central Board before he became an IOC member in 2007.

In April 2014, Baumann visited Nanjing, capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province, and expressed his hopes for China to bid for the FIBA Basketball World Cup. In August, 2015, China beat the Philippines 14-7 to become host for the 2019 World Cup. Baumann has always been vocal about his ambition for the basketball World Cup to succeed and said that he wanted 2019 to become the "year of basketball".