Gianluigi Porelli
Gianluigi "Gigi" Porelli (10 June 1930 – 4 September 2009) was an Italian basketball executive. Porelli was one of the greatest contributors to the growth and development of the sport of basketball in Italy and Europe. In 2007, he was inducted into the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame. Basketball management career. Porelli was the President of the Italian basketball club Virtus Bologna, from 1968 to 1989, but "de facto" owned the club until 1991. At the time of his death, he was also the club's honorary president. In 1970, he was also one of the founders of the  Lega Basket, the governing body of the top-tier level professional Italian basketball league. In 1991, he was also one of the founders of ULEB, the Union of European Leagues of Basketball, along with Eduardo Portela. He also served as ULEB's first President, from 1991 to 1998. He was also the honorary president of ULEB. In 2014, the Euroleague Basketball Company, which organizes the top-tier European-wide professional club basketball competition (the EuroLeague), named its Executive of the Year Award after Porelli, in his honor.