Ram Ruhee (October 12, 1927 – October 21, 2008) was a Mauritian former International Olympic Committee member and

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

executive. Ruhee founded the Mauritius National Olympic Committee and remained it Secretary General until his death in 2008.

Early years

Ruhee, born in Port Louis and former teacher, founded the first division

soccer club In Association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as a ...

Cadets Club in Mauritius in 1948. He continued to manage the team after its founding. He later founded the Mauritius National Olympic Committee in 1971 and remained its Secretary General until his death in 2008.

Career

Mauritius first competed in the Olympics during the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

in Los Angeles and has subsequently competed in every Summer Olympics Game since. The country's first Olympic Medal was won during the 2008 Beijing Olympics by

Bruno Julie Louis Richard Bruno Julie (born July 11, 1978), known as Bruno Julie, is a Mauritian bantamweight boxer who won a number of medals in international tournaments and competed in the 2008 Olympics when he won the first-ever Olympic medal for the isl ...

. The IOC would later commend Ruhee in statement following his death saying, "(He) played a key role in promoting the values of sport to the youth in his country." Ruhee served as a member of the International Olympic Committee from 1988 until 2007. He was investigated in 1999 as part of the

2002 Winter Olympic bid scandal The 2002 Olympic Winter Games bid scandal was a scandal involving allegations of bribery used to win the rights to host the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Prior to its successful bid in 1995, the city had attempted fo ...

. However, Ruhee was completely exonerated and cleared of any wrongdoing in the scandal. He was awarded the Olympic Order of Merit at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Ruhee also served on the

executive committee from 1992 until 1998. He was also a member of the FIFA finance committee and the FIFA World Cup Organising Committee.

Death

Ram Ruhee died on October 21, 2008, at the age of 81 after a long illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruhee, Ram 1927 births 2008 deaths FIFA officials International Olympic Committee members Mauritian football managers People from Port Louis District Mauritian sports executives and administrators Mauritian Hindus Mauritian people of Indian descent