Wikipedia

Sadettin Saran

Sadettin Saran
President-elect of Fenerbahçe
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 September 2025
Preceded byAli Koç
Personal details
Born
Steven Sadettin Saran

(1964-08-30) August 30, 1964 (age 61)
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
NationalityTurkey - United States
Alma materUniversity of Kentucky
OccupationBusinessman and sports executive.

Steven Sadettin Saran (born 30 August 1964) is an American-Turkish athlete, businessman and sports executive. In September 2025, he became the 38th president of Fenerbahçe Sports Club.[1]

Biography

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Saran was born in Denver, Colorado to a Turkish father Özbek Saran and an American mother Geraldine Saran.[2] He studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Kentucky in the United States.[3]

While he was studying in the US, he was the team captain of the school's swimming team and was selected as the Most Valuable Athlete for two years.[4] He was the captain of the Turkish National Swimming Team in 1984–1985 and broke the 50-meter freestyle swimming record during this period.[2]

Saran, who later came to Turkey after completing his education, worked at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Later, he founded Saran Holding[5] and assumed the representation of many well-known world brands.[6] Between 1990 and 1995, he served as Assistant General Manager and General Manager at Martin Marietta's Ankara Office.[2][3][4]

Saran, who has a daughter named Lal from a previous marriage, speaks Spanish and intermediate German as well as English.[2]

Saran Holding

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Saran Holding, which he founded in Istanbul in 1990, operates in the media, publishing, internet platforms, aviation, tourism and betting sectors.[4][3]

In Saran Media, it owns approximately 65% ​​of sports broadcasting in Turkey and holds the broadcasting rights for major events such as La Liga, Serie A, Premier League, and UEFA competitions. It also operates hotels in Split and Prague in the tourism sector.[4] With 33 different companies and approximately 2,000 employees, the company is one of Türkiye's major business groups.[4][3]

Media organizations such as S Sport, Radyospor, Radyo Music, Radyo Traffic, Ajansspor sports portal and tuttur.com betting site also belong to Sadettin Saran.[7][3][4]

Fenerbahçe

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Saran is a member of the High Council of Fenerbahçe S.K. with registration number 9945.[8] He took charge in the board as executive of the department of football during the presidency of Aziz Yıldırım.[9] His relations with Aziz Yıldırım sharply deteriorated because he did not approve the actions of the president, criticizing him clearly. As a result of this, he was illegally dismissed from the board. He sued the club for being unfairly expelled. Eventually, the Turkish Court concluded that Saran won the 7-year long case.[10]

On 16 December 2021, Saran stated that he would be a candidate for presidency of Fenerbahçe SK in the future.[11]

On 30 July 2025, Saran became candidate via "500 Candidate's signature (As needed for Club Charter)" and he became president candidate in upcoming extraordinary elections, for Fenerbahçe SK.[12]

At the Fenerbahçe Sports Club Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting held on 21 September 2025, 24,732 votes were cast, of which 24,393 were deemed valid. Saran became the 38th president of Fenerbahçe with 12,325 votes, while President Ali Koç received 12,068 votes. 135 blank votes were cast, and 204 votes were deemed invalid.[1]

Borussia Dortmund

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Saran, who was a shareholder of Borussia Dortmund,[13] one of the Bundesliga teams, sold his shares after the racist and Islamophobic reactions from the fans.[14][15]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü'nün Yeni Başkanı S. Sadettin Saran". 21 September 2025. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d "Sadettin Saran'ın Hayatı ve Biyografisi". 21 September 2025. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Sadettin Saran kimdir, serveti ne kadar? Fenerbahçe'nin yeni başkanı Sadettin Saran'a ait şirketler". 22 September 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Fenerbahçe'nin yeni başkanı Sadettin Saran kimdir? Sadettin Saran'ın sahip olduğu şirketler!". 22 September 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  5. ^ "Arşivlenmiş kopya". Archived from the original on 22 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  6. ^ "Arşivlenmiş kopya". Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  7. ^ "Arşivlenmiş kopya". Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  8. ^ "Sadettin Saran'a başsağlığı dileriz" (in Turkish). Fenerbahçe S.K. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  9. ^ "Sadettin Saran görevi bırakıyor" (in Turkish). Hürriyet. 25 April 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Sadettin Saran kazandı, Aziz Yıldırım itiraz etti" (in Turkish). CNN Türk. 26 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  11. ^ "Sadettin Saran'dan Fenerbahçe başkanlık açıklaması". fanatik.com.tr (in Turkish). 17 December 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  12. ^ "Prominent Turkish businessman eyes for Fenerbahce presidency". Türkiye Today. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  13. ^ Haber7. "Sadettin Saran B.Dordmund için kesenin ağzını açtı - Tüm Spor Haber". spor.haber7.com. Retrieved 20 December 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "Sadettin Saran Borussia Dortmund'u neden sattı?". futbolarena.com. 18 March 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  15. ^ "Borussia Dortmundta Türke geçit yok ! | Ekonomi". haber3.com. 7 February 2005. Retrieved 20 December 2021.