IAAF general secretay Gyulai dies

MOSCOW, Mar 12 (Reuters) Istvan Gyulai, general secretary of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), died today aged 62.

''It is with deep regret that I have to announce the death of a friend and valued colleague,'' IAAF President Lamine Diack said in a statement.

''Istvan devoted his entire life to our sport. His colleagues on the Council and in our member federations, as well as all the members of IAAF staff, will sadly miss his friendly manner, his intelligence and his energy.

Diack said he believed Gyulai had been ''extremely courageous in the face of a cruel illness.'' A former sprinter, Gyulai became an IAAF council member in 1984 and was appointed general secretary in 1991.

He won 23 Hungarian sprint titles and competed at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964. He went on to become a television commentator and then head of sport for Hungarian TV.

He leaves a wife and four children.

REUTERS PDS KN1610