Turgut Atakol

Turgut Atakol — Biography

Born in Istanbul on 10 October 1915 and passing away there on 9 April 1988, Turgut Atakol built a career spanning playing, refereeing, and sports administration. He took up sport at the German School and represented Galatasaray in both basketball and rowing, forming part of the club's celebrated coxless four crew.

After his playing days he turned to officiating, taking charge of 79 international matches, including the Czechoslovakia-Hungary final of the 1955 European Championship. He served as the first president of the Turkish Basketball Federation from 1958 to 1964 and sat on FIBA's Technical Committee, helping bring Turkey its first hosted European Championship in 1959; his 1967 book "Techniques of Basketball Refereeing" was later adopted by FIBA as a reference guide for referees worldwide.

He directed the organizing committee of the 1971 Mediterranean Games in İzmir, led the Turkish National Olympic Committee as president from 1982 to 1988, and was elected to the International Olympic Committee's general assembly in 1984 on Juan Antonio Samaranch's recommendation. Founder of the Turkish Sports Foundation, Atakol was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame as a contributor, and a youth tournament, the Turgut Atakol Tournament, still bears his name today.