Lale Orta (born 1960) is a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player, coach,

sports commentator In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

and

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

. She was Turkey's first ever FIFA listed woman referee. Currently, she is an academic in the field of sports science. End January 2023, she was appointed chairperson of the Central Referee Committee of the Turkish Football Federation.

Personal life

Lale Orta was born 1960 in

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, ...

. Following her primary and secondary education in schools at

Aksaray Aksaray (, Koine Greek: Ἀρχελαΐς ''Arhelays'', Medieval Greek: Κολώνεια ''Koloneya'', Ancient Greek: Γαρσάουρα ''Garsaura'') is a city in the Central Anatolia Region, Turkey, Central Anatolia region of Turkey and the ca ...

, Cibali and Bakırköy, she studied Accounting and Finance at Marmara University graduating in 1986. She continued her higher education in Sport management at the same university and earned a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in 1993. She received a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

degree with a

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

on "''Football Organizations in Turkey and the World - An Analytical Approach''" ( tr, "Dünyada ve Türkiye'de Futbol Organizasyonları - Analitik bir Yaklaşım") at her alma mater in 2002. Between 1998 and 2003, Orta served as lecturer at the Istanbul Technical University. From 2003 to 2009, she taught at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University. Since then she has been employed by

Okan University Istanbul Okan University is a private university in Istanbul, Turkey. History The university was founded by Okan Culture, Education, and Sports Foundation in 1999 and began its academic life in 2003–2004. Since the 2006–2007 academic year, ...

in Istanbul, first as an assistant professor and as an associate professor starting in 2015, and has acted as the head of the Department of

Sports Management Sport management is the field of business dealing with sports and recreation. Sports management involves any combination of skills that correspond with planning, organizing, directing, controlling, budgeting, leading, or evaluating of any organiz ...

between 2009-2011 and 2015 onwards. Lale Orta is married to film and stage actor Ahmet Orta.

Sports career

Player and coach

Between 1976 and 1989, she played football as goalkeeper in

Dostluk Spor Dostluk Spor Kulübü is a multi-sport club established 1973 as a women's football club in Istanbul, Turkey. It is known as the country's first ever women's football club. The club also maintains the branches of basketball, swimming, tennis and ...

, the first women's football team of Turkey, and served as its captain. She became later the country's first female certified football coach, and worked as such for Dostluk Spor and the

Turkey women's national football team The Turkey women's national football team represents Turkey in international women's football. The team was established in 1995, and compete in the qualification for UEFA Women's Championship and the UEFA qualifying of FIFA Women's World Cu ...

Referee

Orta began her referee career as an

assistant referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...

in a match of the Turkish

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

league, called A2 Ligi, on September 10, 1990. She made her debut as a referee in the same league on October 7, 1990. She was then promoted to officiate in the

TFF Third League TFF 3. Lig (Turkish Football Federation Third League) is the fourth level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in 2001–02 season as a continuation of then third level division Turkish Third Football League.Turkish Third Footba ...

on October 27, 1990, and in the

TFF Second League TFF 2. Lig (Turkish Football Federation Second League), is the third level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in the 2001–02 season with the name of ''Turkish Second League Category B'' as a continuation of the then second lev ...

on January 28, 1996. Orta was appointed to supervise the highest-level Turkish league competitions in the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

for the first time in the match Sakaryaspor against MKE Ankaragücü on May 29, 1999. She served as referee in the Turkish Women's First Football League debuting on April 9, 2000. After officiating more than 1,500 amateur and professional football matches including 60 international in various competitions, she retired from active referee career in domestic football after her last match on December 5, 2004. The Turkish Football Federation named her official observer for the Super Lig matches with effect of the 2007–08 season. In 1995, she received the FIFA badge as one of the first 54 women referees from 27 countries in the world. In this capacity, she officiated international matches in eleven years. Orta was named a "''UEFA Elite Referee''" among 17 European referees in 2003. On November 28, 2002, Orta supervised the quarter-finals match between

Arsenal Ladies Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is an English professional women's football club based in Islington, London, England. The club plays in the Women's Super League, the top tier of English women's football. Arse ...

and

CSK VVS Samara BC Samara (russian: БК Самара) is a Russian professional basketball team that is based in Samara, Russia. History BC Samara (1976–2002) Club was founded in Tolyatti as BC Azot. Club was a silver medalist of the Russian Super League ...

at the

2002–03 UEFA Women's Cup The second UEFA Women's Cup took place during the 2002–03 season. It was won by Swedish Damallsvenskan side Umeå in a two-legged final against Fortuna Hjørring of Denmark. First qualifying round ---- ---- Second qualifying round G ...

held in

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

England. She oversaw the preliminary round match between

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

at the

2005 UEFA Women's Championship qualification The qualification for the UEFA Women's Euro 2005 was held between March 26, 2003 & November 27, 2004. The first-placed of the group stage qualified directly. The second-placed and the two best third-placed teams played in two playoff matches for th ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, Russia on May 16, 2004 and the final match of 2005 UEFA Women's Cup between the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

1. FFC Turbine Potsdam 1. Frauenfußballclub Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V., commonly known as 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (or Turbine Potsdam outside of Germany), is a German women's football club located in Potsdam, Brandenburg. They are one of the most successful women's footb ...

and the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Djurgårdens IF Dam on May 15, 2005. Due to 45-years of age limit for referees set by the

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

, Orta's international referee career ended after the

2007 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification (UEFA) In the UEFA qualification for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the 25 teams belonging to the First Category of European women's football were drawn into five groups, from which the group winners qualified for the World Cup finals. The qualifiers b ...

match she officiated between the national women's teams of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

played in

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 ...

, Spain on November 5, 2005. For the 2007–08 UEFA Women's Cup semifinal second-leg match between the Italian

A.S.D. C.F. Bardolino Verona Società Sportiva Dilettantistica Women Hellas Verona, known as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a women's football club based in Verona, Italy, currently playing in Serie B. Founded in 1995, the team won the Serie A championship five times a ...

and the German

1. FFC Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt is a German women's association football club based in Frankfurt. Its first team currently plays in the German top flight, Frauen-Bundesliga. From 1998 to 2020, the club was known as 1. FFC Frankfurt. Eintracht have won sev ...

teams played in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

, Italy on April 5, 2008, she served as the official observer.

Sports administrator

Orta was appointed chairperson of the Central Referee Committee ( tr, Merkez Hakem Kurulu, MHK) of the

Turkish Football Federation The Turkish Football Federation (; TFF) is the governing body of association football in Turkey. It was formed on 23 April 1923, and joined FIFA the same year and UEFA in 1962. It organizes the Turkey national football team, the Süper Lig, Turk ...

on 29 January 2023.

Honors

* March 26, 2002

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

trophy "''Women and Sport in Europe''" * 2003 ''UEFA Elite Referee''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orta, Lale 1960 births Living people Footballers from Istanbul Turkish women's footballers Women's association football goalkeepers Association football commentators Turkish women's football managers Turkish football referees Turkish sportswomen Marmara University alumni Academic staff of Istanbul Technical University Academic staff of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University Academic staff of Istanbul Okan University Sportspeople from Istanbul Turkish female football managers Women association football referees 20th-century Turkish sportswomen Turkish sports executives and administrators Association football executives