Saleh Selim ( ar, صالح سليم) (11 September 1930 - 6 May 2002) was the 10th president of the Egyptian

Al Ahly AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

Sporting Club. He also was a famous Egyptian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and actor. He was nicknamed El Maestro because of his way of leading the

football team to many victories. He then became the manager of the team, then member of the board of directors of the club. He finally became one of the most successful presidents of the club.

Early life

Saleh was born on 11 September 1930 in

Dokki Dokki ( ar, الدقي , is one of nine districts that make up Giza city, which is part of Greater Cairo, in Egypt. Dokki is situated on the western bank of the Nile, directly across from Downtown Cairo. It is a vital residential and comme ...

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...

, and his father is Dr. Mohamed Selim, one of the pioneers of Anesthesiology in Egypt. Selim's father knew his mother, Zein El Sharaf, when she was undergoing surgery at his hospital. He married her and she gave birth to three males. Saleh was the eldest, followed by Abdel Wahab and Tareq. Saleh Selim has been a footballer since childhood. In Dokki, Giza. He joined the Orman junior high school team, then the high school team during his studies at the Saadia school in the same district. In 1944 he joined the junior ranks of

Al Ahly club AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

after being discovered by Mr. Hassan Kamel, supervisor of the club's team. He quickly succeeded in proving his presence and talent, and was promoted to the first team at the age of seventeen. He played his first game (friendly) in front of the Al Masry club in 1948, and

won two goals to one with Saleh scoring the winning goal. Though his first official game was against Alexandria in the third week of the Egyptian league championship season of 1948 and Al Ahly achieved victory.

Career

Selim joined

club in 1944 as a football player. Later, he became the club's football team manager, then a member of the board of directors. Due to the fame he gained as a football player, Saleh was dragged into show business and starred in three movies. He co-starred in the 1962 film titled "Black Candles" directed by Ezz El-Dine Zulficar, with

Nagat El-Sagheera Nagat El-Sagheera ( arz, نجاة الصغيرة; born Nagah Hosni Elbaba on 11 August 1938; alternative spelling: El Saghirah) is an Egyptian singer and actress. She retired from filming in 1976 and from singing in 2002. Nagat began her career ...

in the leading role where she sang in it her widely known song "Do not lie". In 1980, he was elected the president of Al Ahly. He was then re-elected five successive times. During his presidency, Al-Ahly was elected the African club of the century. On 22 May 2001 Saleh received the award in Johannesburg. He died in 2002 of

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

. Saleh Selim was the first Egyptian soccer player in Austria and it was a "transfer-sensation" when he joined Grazer AK and scored 3 goals in 6 championship-games (10/6 with friendly-games included) for the oldest

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

n football club during the 1962–63 season.

National team appearances

* First Egypt national team appearance was vs Turkey in East Mediterranean Cup 1 February 1950 (Egypt won 3/0) * Participated in Olympic games 1960 * Participated in

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

1959 & 1962 (Played 3 games & Scored 1 Goal) (One title & one runner up)

Honours

Egypt * Winner of

1959 Africa Cup of Nations The 1959 African Cup of Nations was the second edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship between the national teams of Africa, organised by the Confederation of African Football ( CAF). It was hosted and won by the United Ar ...

* 2nd place in

1962 Africa Cup of Nations The 1962 African Cup of Nations was the third edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the soccer championship of Africa (Confederation of African Football, CAF). It was hosted by Ethiopia. Nine countries entered the competition, including the reign ...

Al Ahly * 11

Egyptian Premier League The Egyptian Premier League ( ar, الدوري المصري الممتاز), also known as WE Egyptian Premier League (WE EPL) after the addition of title sponsor WE, is a professional association football league in Egypt and the top level of th ...

titles * 8 Egypt Cup titles Individual * Saleh Selim won 9 successive League titles (1948/49 To 1958/59) (Egyptian Alltime Record) * He scored 92 Goals for

, 78 in Egyptian league & 14 in Egyptian Cup.

Career as a manager

* Al Ahly Football Official 1971 * Al Ahly Club Board Member 1972 * Al Ahly Club President: From 12 December 1980 till 16 December 1988 & from 6 February 1992 till 6 May 2002 * Elected five times 1980-1984-1992-1996-2000

Family

Selim was born in Cairo in 1930. His father Mohamed Selim was a renowned physician. He had two younger brothers, Abdelwahab and

Tariq Selim Tariq Tawfiq Selim (15 July 1937 – 16 July 2016) was an Egyptian footballer. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games ...

. He also has two sons Khaled and Hisham Selim who was an actor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selim, Saleh 1930 births 2002 deaths Sportspeople from Cairo Egyptian footballers Association football midfielders Egypt international footballers Al Ahly SC players Cairo University alumni Egyptian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Austria Egyptian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Grazer AK players 1959 African Cup of Nations players 1962 African Cup of Nations players Africa Cup of Nations-winning players Footballers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Egypt Egyptian Premier League players Deaths from liver cancer