Qemal Omari (born 1902) (in Turkey was known as Kemal Halim Gürgen) was a Turkish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player, manager, and referee of

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

heritage. He was a founding member of

İstanbulspor A.Ş. İstanbulspor Kulübü is a Turkish association football, football and sports club founded by Istanbul High School students in 1926. In 2004–05, they were relegated from the Turkish Süper Lig (Super League) to the TFF First League. For many d ...

in 1926, and he played for the club before retiring and becoming a referee and the general secretary of the

Istanbul Football League The Istanbul Football League () was founded as a regional association football, football league under the name Constantinople Football Association League by James La Fontaine and Henry Pears in Istanbul, the capital of the former Ottoman Empire, ...

. In 1932, he notably refereed the game between

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

and Fenerbahçe before moving to

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

to become the manager of Skënderbeu Korçë.

Skënderbeu

In the early 1930s,

King Zog King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by fi ...

had wanted foreign players and coaches to come to the country in order to raise the profile of football and increase standards, and Omari was invited by representatives of King Zog to Albania along with Servet Teufik Agaj, both of whom were ethnic Albanians living in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Both Omari and Agaj were to head to

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, eighth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population of the city is 51,152 and 75,994 of Korçë municipal ...

to join the Skënderbeu. It is not known why they chose Skënderbeu, but some have suggested that Omari's parents may have originally been from Korçë but had emigrated to Turkey during the

Ottoman era The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...

. Agaj was born in Gora, Korçë, but had been living in Turkey for a number of years before returning in 1931, one year before himself and Omari joined Skënderbeu. It has been suggested that Omari chose to go to Korçë on the recommendation of Agaj. Omari won the 1933 Albanian Championship with Skënderbeu after finishing fourth in his first season. In the title-winning season, Servet Teufik Agaj scored seven league goals and was named the top scorer. Both the player and coach remained at the club until 1938, when they returned to Turkey.

References

Year of death missing Turkish people of Albanian descent Turkish men's footballers İstanbulspor footballers Turkish football managers KF Skënderbeu Korçë managers Turkish expatriate football managers Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Albania Expatriate football managers in Albania Men's association football midfielders 1928 births Footballers from Istanbul 20th-century Turkish sportsmen {{Turkey-footy-midfielder-stub