Kumar served 27 years as an IOC member after first joining the body in 1973, before becoming an honorary member until his death.

A key figure during the Presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch, he was first made a member of the Executive Board at the 1980 IOC Session in Moscow at which the Spaniard was also appointed President.

He served on the Board from 1980 to 1987 and once again from 1992 to 1996, while he was also vice-president between 1983 and 1987, a time of major change during which the IOC pioneered its The Olympic Partner (TOP) sponsorship programme and developed into a major commercial brand.

A key figure within Indian sport, he served 16 years as President of the Indian Hockey Federation, leading the Indian hockey delegations at the Tokyo 1964 and Mexico City 1968 Olympics, as well as serving 15 years as vice-president of the International Hockey Federation.

Other positions held included the Presidency of the Indian Basketball Federation and the Punjab Olympic Association.

"Ashwini Kumar had a real passion for sport and spent his whole career promoting its values at the highest level of Indian sports administration,” said current IOC President Thomas Bach today.

“It was always a pleasure working with him over so many years.

"His good advice and contributions were greatly valued and his high integrity was hugely appreciated."

Away from sport, Kumar was a high-ranking policeman in India, serving for 36 years and retiring as director general of the Border Security Force in 1978.

He later served as a security delegate for several Olympic Games, including at Moscow 1980.

He was named "Policeman of the Millennium" in Sydney in 2000, the same year in which he passed his 80th birthday so graduated from IOC member to honorary status.

“Ashwini Kumar was an astute sports administrator whose sole aim was to develop Indian sports and produce Olympic champions for the country," added Randhir Singh, who replaced Kumar as India's IOC member in 2001 before vacating the post last year.

"He was one of the stalwarts of Indian sports administration.

"The sporting fraternity will deeply miss him."

Kumar died in hospital yesterday in New Delhi, with the precise cause of death not yet clear.

He had previously been treated for a hip injury in hospital in 2010, after a fall sustained while attending the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

He becomes the second former IOC vice-president to pass away this year after China's He Zhenliang, a chief architect behind the Beijing 2008 Olympics who died in January aged 85.  

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