Orhan Erdemir

Orhan Erdemir — Biography

Orhan Erdemir is a Turkish former referee who worked at the top of Turkish football from the 1990s into the early 2000s. Besides the 136 Süper Lig matches he officiated, he refereed in European club competitions and national-team qualifiers during his years on the FIFA list, and after retiring from the whistle he stayed in the game as an observer and committee head.

He first played professionally for two years as a goalkeeper, then turned to refereeing in 1985 at the age of 22. Across 12 seasons between 1994 and 2005 he took charge of 136 Süper Lig matches, including at least two Galatasaray-Fenerbahçe derbies. On March 25, 1998, he refereed the first leg of the 1997-98 Turkish Cup final between Beşiktaş and Galatasaray, which ended 1-1. From 1999 to 2002 he was on FIFA's referee list; in that time he officiated six UEFA Cup matches, as well as Champions League qualifiers, World Cup and European Championship qualifiers and various friendlies. At the 2001 U-20 World Cup in Argentina he handled one group match and one round-of-16 match.

After his refereeing career he worked as a referee observer and was repeatedly appointed by UEFA on behalf of the Turkish Football Federation between 2019 and 2022. In August 2022 he became head of the Istanbul Provincial Referees Committee. In 2024 the Turkish Football Federation revoked his refereeing license, ending that role.