The mounting scandals surrounding the Olympic movement and its all-powerful boss have reached Spanish financial circles with the removal of Mr Juan Antonio Samaranch from his position as chairman of La Caixa, the country's fourth-largest savings bank.
It brings ever closer the possibility of an end of his reign as president of the International Olympic Committee, which some observers say could come within a matter of weeks.
His surprise resignation on Thursday night from the Caixa savings bank, believed to have come after pressure from fellow directors, comes only days before the 78-year-old Catalan businessman and Olympic boss was due to be re-elected for a further four years in office.
Last weekend the IOC announced the suspension of six of its own committee members and the resignation of another three and continues to investigate the activities of three more, over allegations of corruption in the awarding of the 2002 Winter Games to Salt Lake City.
Although Mr Samaranch is not accused of any actual wrongdoing since he has no casting vote in the election of sites for the Games, he has admitted accepting a decorative samurai sword from Japanese officials and an inscribed pistol and rifle worth $2,000 from Salt Lake City.
The Marques de Samaranch - he received the title from King Juan Carlos after his native Barcelona was awarded the 1992 Summer Games - is a multimillionaire in his own right.
Born in 1920 to one of Barcelona's richest business and industrial families whose support for Franco during the Spanish civil war brought them even greater wealth, he became one of the most influential men in Spain. Under the Franco dictatorship he entered politics, served as national delegate for sport and a member of the regional council and received directorships in a long list of major companies.
Mr Samaranch was able to make the move from servant of a fascist dictatorship to loyal supporter of a democratic monarchy. In 1977 he was appointed Spain's first ambassador to the Soviet Union, a post he held until 1980 when he was elected IOC president. He has run the IOC headquarters in Lausanne as his personal kingdom, and even had the legislation changed to allow him to remain in the position for a fourth term past the previous compulsory retirement age of 75.
Mr Samaranch has always said he will not step down before cleaning up any corruption within the movement. But he may have no choice; the noose around his neck tightens by the day.