Károly Palotai (11 September 1935 – 3 February 2018) was a Hungarian

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player 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 title ...

. He was an Olympic Gold winner as a player before turning to refereeing. He was a referee at three World Cup tournaments and officiated in two European Cup finals.

Playing career

He was a successful player with

Győri ETO FC ETO FC Győr (''Egyetértés Torna Osztály Futball Club Győr''; ''Concordance Gymnastics Department Football Club of Győr'') or just ETO is a Hungarian professional football club from the city of Győr. They are best known for reaching the se ...

and also won a gold medal at the football tournament of the 1964 Olympic Games in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, when Hungary defeated

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

in the final 2–1.

Refereeing career

Károly Palotai was a referee in the FIFA World Cups 1974,

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

and

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

, as well as in the European Championship 1980 and the 1972 Olympic Games in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and the 1976 Olympic Games in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. In addition, he officiated the finals of the European Champions' Cup 1976 between

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

and AS Saint-Etienne and

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

between

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and

Liverpool FC Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has ...

, the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

final of

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

between

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

and

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fo ...

and the first leg of the finals of the UEFA Cup 1974–75 between

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

and FC Twente Enschede.

Personal life

He is the father of

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

-based DJ and co-founder of the radio station Tilos Radio,

Zsolt Palotai Zsolt Palotai (also known as ''DJ Palotai'', b. 28 May 1961 in Győr, d. 18 November 2023) was a Hungarian electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based musi ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Palotai, Karoly 1935 births 2018 deaths Hungarian men's footballers Olympic footballers for Hungary Olympic gold medalists for Hungary Olympic medalists in football Footballers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic football referees Hungarian football referees 1982 FIFA World Cup referees 1978 FIFA World Cup referees 1974 FIFA World Cup referees UEFA Euro 1980 referees Hungarian expatriate men's footballers Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany Men's association football midfielders Békéscsaba 1912 Előre footballers Győri ETO FC players Footballers from Békéscsaba Freiburger FC players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players 20th-century Hungarian sportsmen