Hasan Arat (born 27 September 1959) is a Turkish sports administrator, businessman and former professional basketball player. He was the leader of

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

's Bid to host the

2020 Olympic The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the List of Olympic Games h ...

and

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Sports administration

Hasan Arat rose to international prominence as leader of Istanbul's bid to host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Vice-President of the Turkish National Olympic Committee was appointed leader of the Bid when Istanbul were officially shortlisted as a Candidate City by the International Olympic Committee in May 2012. This was Istanbul's fifth and most successful Bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The announcement of the 2020 Host City was made on 7 September 2013 at the

125th IOC Session The 125th IOC Session took place at the Buenos Aires Hilton in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 7 to 10 September 2013. On 7 September, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) elected Tokyo as the host city of the 2020 Summer Olympic ...

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following presentations by each candidate city, and Istanbul lost to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

in the final round of voting by the International Olympic Committee, following the earlier elimination of

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. Arat led Istanbul's final presentation to the

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members and following Istanbul's presentation, Arat said, "The Bid has united the people of Turkey, especially our young people, behind a common vision for our country’s future. Whatever happens with the vote, this bid has brought the whole nation together; it has inspired and engaged our younger generation; and it has made a lasting connection between Turkey and the Olympic Movement." Following Arat's leadership of the Istanbul 2020 Bid, he was elected as an Executive Committee member of the

European Olympic Committee The European Olympic Committees is an organisation based in Rome, Italy, consisting of 50 National Olympic Committees from the continent of Europe.EOC members include transcontinental countries Turkish Olympic Committee, Turkey and Russian Olympic ...

, and appointed a member of the International Olympic Committee's Marketing Commission, as well as the

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(ANOC) Marketing and New Sources of Finance Commission. In May 2014,

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, announced that Arat would be one of nine members of a new Olympic Bidding Procedure Working Group, which aimed to review the bidding procedure to host an

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

in order to make it simpler and more appealing for cities to apply. On 25 July 2019, it was announced that Arat would be the Chair of the EOC Coordination Commission for the 2023 European Games due to take place in Krakow and the Malopolska region of Poland. Arat joined the Executive Board of the World Athletics Council on 24 November 2019. Arat is the Chairman of the Board of BIDEV (Basketball Solidarity and Education Foundation), a non-profit organization with the aim of contributing to the development of Turkish basketball. On 4th August 2022, the NBA and BIDEV announced a multiyear collaboration to launch the Jr. NBA Turkey League, a youth basketball league for boys and girls ages 11-14 from 30 participating primary schools in Istanbul. On 10th January 2023, Arat was awarded a "Golden Mongoose" Special Medal of Honour 'for the outstanding contribution to the fortification of the international relations and friendship among nations as one of the best traditions of sport'

Basketball career

Hasan Arat played professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

for 7 years. After beginning his career at Adana Demirspor, he played for 5 years for Besiktas Gymnastics Club (BJK) from 1977 -1981. He was the Vice-President of Besiktas Gymnastics Club (BJK) from 1998-2000.

Business career

Arat is the Partner and Chairman of Novo Invest, a multifaceted real estate investment and development company, the Founder and Partner of Dome Group, an independent Corporate Finance and M&A advisory firm based in London and Istanbul, and the Vice Chairman of Turkey's biggest retail group Beymen. Arat holds a variety of other business positions, including membership of the Board of Trustees of

Özyeğin University Özyeğin University is a private, non-profit university located in Istanbul, Turkey. History The university was founded by the Hüsnü Özyeğin, Hüsnü M. Özyeğin Foundation, and its establishment was approved by Foundation Act No. 5656 ...

, Board member of FIBA Holding, Vice President of the

United Nations World Tourism Organization The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations specialized agency entrusted with the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. Its headquarters are in Madrid, Spain. UNWTO is the leading internati ...

's (UNTWO) Affiliated Members Board of Directors, representing the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), and former President and current member of the Executive Council and Board of Directors of the International Apparel Federation (IAF) Arat was awarded the ‘Businessman of the Year’ award in 1996 by Economist Magazine, the National Productivity Center of Turkey and Dunya Newspaper.

Personal life

He lives in Istanbul with his wife, Simin, and has a son, Ali, and a daughter, Zeynep.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arat, Hasan Turkish men's basketball players Living people 1959 births Place of birth missing (living people) Beşiktaş men's basketball players