Abdel Azim Ashry (; October 31, 1911, in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

– March 2, 1997, in

) was an

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

basketball player, referee and sports administrator. In 1985, he was a recipient of the Silver

Olympic Order The Olympic Order, established in 1975, is the highest award of the Olympic Movement. It is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. Tradit ...

Career

Ashry played in the Egyptian first division basketball league in the 1930s and 1940s. Upon retiring, he became a referee, calling in the 1948 Olympic Games (including the USA-France final), 1950 World Championship (including the Argentina-USA final), 1952 Olympic Games (including the USA-USSR final) and 1954 World Championship (including the USA-Brazil final). Subsequently, he served as the president of the

Egyptian Basketball Federation The Egyptian Basketball Federation is the governing body of the sport of basketball in Egypt. It joined International Basketball Federation FIBA in 1934. History It was founded in 1934, and was a member of FIBA Europe, as the FIBA Africa zone w ...

in 1972-1985, the president of the

Egyptian Olympic Committee The Egyptian Olympic Committee (, abbreviated as EOC) is a non-profit organization serving as the National Olympic Committee of Egypt and a part of the International Olympic Committee. History The Egyptian Olympic Committee was founded during th ...

in 1978-1985 and secretary general of AFABA (currently

FIBA Africa FIBA Africa is a zone within the FIBA basketball association which contains all 54 national African FIBA federations. It was founded in 1961. FIBA Africa maintains offices in Cairo and in Abidjan. Zones The 54 federations of FIBA Africa are g ...

) in 1965-1997. In 1997, he was awarded the

FIBA Order of Merit FIBA Order of Merit is an international basketball award that is awarded by FIBA, the international basketball federation. The award is given to individuals that have made very significant individual contributions to furthering the sport of basket ...

. He was enshrined in the

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA in 1991. Originally built in ...

in 2007 as a contributor.

References

External links

FIBA Hall of Fame page on Ashry
1911 births 1997 deaths Egyptian men's basketball players FIBA Hall of Fame inductees Basketball in Egypt Recipients of the Olympic Order 20th-century Egyptian sportsmen {{Egypt-basketball-bio-stub