Private funeral for Patrick Baumann

MANILA, Philippines — The late FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann’s body is expected to arrive in Geneva tomorrow from Buenos Aires where an autopsy was performed before transporting the remains to his home country. A private burial is scheduled next week with only his family, FIBA president Horacio Muratore of Argentina, FIBA treasurer Ingo Weiss of Germany and FIBA chief operations officer Markus Studer of Germany attending. Baumann is survived by his wife Patricia and their two children Bianca, 17, and Paul, 14.

According to SBP president Al Panlilio, a public ceremony to pay tribute to Baumann will be held at a later stage and it may be two to six weeks before the event takes place. SBP chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan and Panlilio will await further details on funeral arrangements before heading to Geneva to pay their respects.

In Buenos Aires where Baumann died of a sudden heart attack, a memorial service was held by the IOC on a 3x3 court last Sunday. “We all know Patrick as a man of boundless energy and unbridled enthusiasm,” said IOC president Thomas Bach of Germany. “Everyone of us remembers how he inspired us all with his positive outlook, with his kind-hearted smile, with his zest for life and with his passion for sport. Patrick was always active, always right in the middle of the action.”

Muratore said under Baumann’s leadership, FIBA was driven forward in quantum leaps. “FIBA became a truly modern organization in the world of international federations,” said Muratore. “When Patrick took office, there were less than 20 people working for FIBA. Today, there are more than 200 active staff working around the whole world. Patrick was a visionary and always had clear ideas about how to grow our sport. He was not afraid to ‘shake the tree’ as he often liked to say.”

In the FIBA website, tributes from all over the world were posted, including three tweets from the Philippines. The messages were from Pangilinan, former Gilas head coach/TV5 president Chot Reyes and former Gilas star/FIBA Players Commission member Jimmy Alapag. “Patrick was a colossus of world basketball,” said MVP. “His influence on the sport transcends his title as FIBA secretary-general and touches most aspects of basketball in most parts of the world. And he has been a good friend of Philippine basketball.” Reyes called Baumann’s death “an immense loss to basketball.” Alapag expressed his condolences in his twitter account.

Noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jose Raul Canlas, who was in Geneva to attend a FIBA Medical Commission meeting early this week, said the mood in the FIBA head office was sad but the situation was functional. “The Medical Commission was asked to pursue our tasks with vigor to commemorate Patrick who has been very supportive,” he said. “We held a small tribute before commencing our meeting.  His accomplishments were huge. He made FIBA one of the big International Federations, restructured FIBA in a corporate setting, got the NBA involved, developed 3x3, built the House of Basketball and achieved so much with the IOC.”

Struder, concurrently the chairman of the Basketball Champions League of Europe, will take over as interim secretary-general until the Central Board formalizes an appointment during its meeting in December. Baumann was not known to be nursing a health issue and went to the gym regularly. The report was he suffered a heart attack in the hotel during the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires last Saturday, received emergency care and was brought to the hospital.