Özhan Canaydın

Özhan Canaydın — Biography

Özhan Canaydın was born on 23 January 1943 in Bursa's Mudanya district and died in Bursa on 22 March 2010. He joined Galatasaray as a teenager, becoming one of the club's youngest members at fourteen, and rose through its youth and senior basketball squads, representing Turkey's junior national team at a European championship in 1962 and winning a Turkish basketball title with Galatasaray in 1963. After retiring from competitive basketball in 1964, he built a career in business, founding a textile manufacturing company in Bursa.

Canaydın held several administrative roles within Galatasaray before being elected club president in 2002, a post he was re-elected to twice more. During his presidency the football team captured league titles and a domestic cup, and the club's current stadium, Türk Telekom Arena, was built under his leadership. Respected across Turkish football for his fair-minded conduct, he stepped aside from a further term in 2008 after disclosing a pancreatic cancer diagnosis, and died from the illness in 2010. Galatasaray still marks the anniversary of his death each year, and both a conference hall and an equestrian tournament at the club carry his name.