Samaranch Expected to Be Hospitalized at Least a Week

Juan Antonio Samaranch, the newly retired president of the International Olympic Committee, is likely to remain hospitalized for at least a week, perhaps longer, IOC officials said Thursday.

Jacques Rogge, who succeeded Samaranch on Monday as IOC president, said Thursday that the ex-president is doing “fine, under the conditions” but will “have to stay . . . probably 10 days in the hospital.”

Samaranch, 81, was hospitalized early Wednesday, suffering from breathing problems. Several sources have said he was being treated for an accumulation of fluid in the lungs. He was hospitalized just hours after returning to Lausanne from Moscow, where he presided over a meeting at which the IOC selected Beijing to host the 2008 Summer Games and Rogge was elected the organization’s eighth president.

Samaranch, a Spaniard, served as IOC president for 21 years.

Rogge, 59, a Belgian physician, said Samaranch was “in a very good mood.” He declined to confirm any details of Samaranch’s illness.

The IOC is planning to go ahead with a scaled-back ceremony today at which Rogge will receive the keys to the IOC’s lakefront headquarters, the Chateau de Vidy.

“We would have wanted to have him there,” Rogge said.

He also said Thursday morning that he had to keep forging ahead with the logistical details of the transition.

“I’m arranging my personal staff. I’m moving in. I [have] a lot of practical issues. I will meet with the administration today.”