György Szepesi

Biographical information

RolesOther
SexMale
Full nameGyörgy•Szepesi (Friedländer-)
Used nameGyörgy•Szepesi
Born5 February 1922 in Budapest, Budapest (HUN)
Died25 July 2018 in Budapest, Budapest (HUN)
NOC Hungary

Biography

György Szepesi was born as György Friedländer into a Jewish family in Budapest. He played basketball for Vác-Újbuda LTC until the Fascists disbanded the club in 1942. His father, Miklós Friedländer, died in the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1945. Szepesi himself was forced into a labour battalion in Ukraine, which was disbanded in October 1944.

Szepesi received his doctorate in sports history from the University of Physical Education in Budapest. He started a career on Hungarian radio as a sport reporter in April 1945, and covered the Olympic Games from 1948, and the Football World Cup from 1954. Szepesi was a member the Hungarian NOC from 1962-2000, and was Executive Committee Chairman for FIFA from 1982-94. He was Chairman of the Hungarian Football Association (MLSZ) from 1978-86, and was honorary chairman of the MLSZ, and an honorary member of FIFA’s Executive Committee.

Szepesi was often named as “the 12th Player of the Magical Magyars”, the famous Hungarian football team in the 1950s. He received the FIFA Medal in 1994, and the Olympic Order from the IOC in 1995. In 2006, was acclaimed as having the longest career as a sports commentator in Hungary. In 2015, The Szepesi Prize was created to recognize other significant figures in Hungarian sports journalism.

Other participations

Games Role NOC As
Other HUN György Szepesi

Special Notes