The Associated Press

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The International Volleyball Federation says Olympic gold medal-winning coach and its former vice president Yasutaka Matsudaira died on Dec. 31. He was 81.

Matsudaira, a renowned tactical innovator, coached Japan's men to gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics. He also guided the team to silver at Mexico City in 1968 and bronze at Tokyo in 1964 when volleyball debuted as an Olympic sport.

Matsudaira, who captained Japan in the 1950s, is enshrined in volleyball's Hall of Fame at Holyoke, Massachusetts.

He served the international governing body from 1982-98, and was vice president of Japan's Olympic committee.

FIVB President Wei Jizhong says Matsudaira "made a tremendous contribution" to modernizing the sport.