Melitón Sánchez Rivas

Melitón Sánchez Rivas (born November 8, 1934 ) is a Panamanian finance manager and sports official.

General

Melitón Sánchez Rivas started his own financial advisory company. He worked for an international bank in the Colón Free Trade Zone as director of accounting.

Career as a sports official

Sánchez Rivas was an active baseball and softball player himself. From 1972 to 2010 he was the President of the Panamanian Softball Association. He accompanied Panamanian teams as a delegation leader at various major events. He was Chef de Mission of Panama at the Summer Olympics in 1972 and 1976 and at the Pan American Games in 1975 and 1979 . From 1982 to 2007 Sánchez Rivas was president of the Panamanian NOK. He has been honorary president for life since 2007. From 1996 to 2008 he was President of the Panamanian Olympic Academy and from 2001 to 2010 President of the Central American sports organization ORDECA.

Activities within the IOC

Melitón Sánchez Rivas was elected an IOC member in 1998. In 2014 his membership ended and in 2015 he became an honorary member.

Awards

The Association of National Olympic Committees honored Sánchez Rivas with the Order of Merit. In 1991 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Softball Federation . He is an honorary citizen of Panama City , Caracas and Cochabamba (Bolivia). In 2014 he was awarded the Olympic silver medal.