Stanković served as FIBA's second secretary general from 1976 to 2002 and was a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

He had been FIBA's secretary general emeritus since 2003.

"On behalf of FIBA, I wish to express our deepest sympathies and pass on our heartfelt condolences to Mr Stanković’s family, friends and loved ones," FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis said.

As a player, Stanković helped Red Star Belgrade win national titles in 1946 and 1947 and was selected to represent Yugoslavia on 36 occasions, including at the inaugural FIBA Basketball World Cup in 1950 in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires.

As a coach, he led OKK Belgrade to four Yugoslavian league titles and Oransoda to one Italian league title.

Starting in 1953, Stanković embarked on an illustrious career in sports administration that spanned more than seven decades.

A member of the Central Board of the Yugoslavian Basketball Federation (YBF) from 1953, he moved up the ranks of national and international sports administration rapidly.

In 1960, upon the proposal of FIBA's first secretary general, Renato William Jones, Stanković was appointed vice-secretary general of FIBA.

Six years later, he became YBF secretary general and this marked the year when he pledged his efforts to basketball full-time, ending a decade-long career as a veterinary inspector for meat control in Belgrade.

In 1972, Stanković was appointed deputy secretary general of FIBA and four years later he succeeded Jones to become FIBA's second secretary general, a position he held for 26 years.

During his time at the helm of FIBA, he is credited with countless achievements, the most significant of which were continually working towards building bridges between the east and west during the Cold War and working closely with the former National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern from the late 1980s to the early 1990s to bring world basketball into the modern era.

This resulted in having, for the first time ever, professional players participate in top-level national team competitions, starting at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.

Beyond basketball, Stanković sat on and/or chaired numerous IOC and international sporting committees and commissions.

His many efforts and contributions have been recognised with countless awards and merits all over the world.

Stanković is survived by one daughter, two granddaughters and two great grandchildren.

"Whether as participant to the first-ever World Cup game in 1950, as organiser of the first-ever World Cup taking place in Europe (in Yugoslavia in 1970) or as leader of the International Basketball Federation for a quarter of a century, Borislav Stanković will always be one of the most important figures in the history of our sport," Zagklis added.

"We are eternally grateful to him for all he did in implementing concrete changes, without which FIBA would not be where it is today."