Saleh Selim (Arabic: صالح سليم) (11 September 1930 – 6 May 2002) was an Egyptian football executive, former football player and an actor. He was the 13th president of Al Ahly SC.
Nicknamed "El Maestro", for taking Al Ahly's football team to numerous victories. He then became the manager of the team, then a member of the board of directors of the club. He finally became one of the most successful presidents of the club.
Saleh was born on 11 September 1930 in Dokki, Giza, and his father is Dr. Mohamed Selim, a pioneer of Anesthesiology in Egypt. Selim's father met his mother, Zein El Sharaf, while 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 had 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.
Selim joined Al Ahly club in 1944 as a football player. He was discovered by Mr. Hassan Kamel, a 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 Al Masry in 1948, and Al Ahly won 2-1 with Saleh scoring the winning goal. His first official game was against Alexandria in the third week of the Egyptian league championship season of 1948 where Al Ahly achieved victory.
Selim won 9 consecutive League titles with Al Ahly (1948–49 To 1958–59) (Egyptian all-time Record). He scored 92 Goals for Al Ahly, 78 in the Egyptian League and 14 in the Egypt Cup.
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 Styrian football club during the 1962–63 season. He retired from football in 1967.
His first international appearance for the Egypt national team was in a match against Turkey in Eastern Mediterranean Cup on 1 February 1950, when Egypt won 3–0.
He was a part of the team that participated in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.[1] Selim was also a part of the team that participated in the 1959 African Cup of Nations, where Egypt won the tournament. He played for his country in the 1962 edition and where they finished second, he played 3 games in the Africa Cup of Nations and scored 1 Goal.
After his retirement from football, Selim was appointed Al Ahly Football Director in 1971. He was elected Al Ahly Club Board Member 1972. In 1980, he was elected the president of Al Ahly.
He was then re-elected five successive times, from 12 December 1980 till 16 December 1988 & from 6 February 1992 till 6 May 2002, he was elected five times; 1980, 1984, 1992, 1996 and 2000. During his presidency, Al-Ahly was elected the African club of the century. On 22 May 2001 Saleh received the award in Johannesburg. He passed away in 2002 of liver cancer.
He co-starred in the 1962 film Black Candles directed by Ezz El-Dine Zulficar, with Nagat El-Sagheera in the leading role where she sang her widely known song "Do not lie". He also acted in the 1963 film The Opened Door directed by Henry Barakat, starring Faten Hamama.[2][3][4]
Selim was born in Cairo in 1930. His father Mohamed Selim was a renowned physician. He had two younger brothers, Abdelwahab and Tariq Selim. He was married and has two sons Khaled and Hisham Selim who was an actor.
Egypt
Al Ahly