The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Juan Antonio Samaranch confirmed resignation in Moscow Thursday.

The Spanish Olympic supreme told Russia's Olympic Committee members: "I would like to finish my career in the place where I began it." He refered to his election in succession to Ireland's Lord Killanin during the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.

Samaranch also said he would do his best to help Russia's Cyclists Federation, which was suspended by the International Cyclists Union (UCI) earlier this month, to regain its membership of the UCI. Samaranch has faced calls to step down ahead of his preferred leaving date ever since the widespread corruption that last year rocked the Olympic movement was revealed.