Süleyman Seba

Süleyman Seba — Biography

Süleyman Rıza Seba was a Turkish sportsman and administrator of Abkhazian descent, born on 5 April 1926 in Hendek, Sakarya, who died on 13 August 2014 in Istanbul. Alongside his football career he served with Turkey's National Intelligence Organization, and he later became the 30th president of Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü, one of only two people ever named the club's honorary president, together with Hakkı Yeten.

He joined Beşiktaş's youth ranks in 1943 and broke into the first team in 1946, winning the Millî Küme championship that season and the Prime Ministry Cup in 1947, the year he also scored the first-ever goal at the newly opened BJK İnönü Stadium. He captured the Istanbul Football League title in 1949-50 before a knee injury forced his retirement at 28 in 1954; his only national-team appearance came against Greece in 1952.

Seba became a club member in 1957, joined the board in 1963, and was elected president in 1984 after defeating incumbent Mehmet Üstünkaya. Over his 16-year tenure, Beşiktaş won five league titles along with numerous domestic cups, though mounting criticism during the 1999-2000 season led him not to seek re-election, handing the presidency to Serdar Bilgili. He remains a revered figure in the club's history to this day.