Sadettin Saran | |
Birth Name: | Steven Sadettin Saran |
Birth Date: | 30 August 1964 |
Birth Place: | Denver, Colorado, U.S. |
Occupation: | Athlete, businessman and sports executive |
Organization: | Saran Holding |
Alma Mater: | University of Kentucky |
Steven Sadettin Saran (born 30 August 1964) is a Turkish athlete, businessman and sports executive.
Saran was born in Denver, Colorado to a Turkish father and an American mother. He studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Kentucky in the United States. Saran, who later came to Turkey, worked at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Later, he founded Saran Holding[1] and assumed the representation of many well-known world brands.[2] Between 1990 and 1995, he served as Assistant General Manager and General Manager at Martin Marietta's Ankara Office. 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. He was the captain of the Turkish National Swimming Team in 1984–1985 and broke the 50-meter freestyle swimming record during this period. Saran, who was a shareholder of Borussia Dortmund,[3] one of the Bundesliga teams, sold his shares after the racist and Islamaphobic reactions from the fans.[4] [5] Saran, who has a daughter named Lal from a previous marriage, speaks Spanish and intermediate German as well as English. Media organizations such as S Sport, Radyospor, Radyo Music, Radyo Traffic, Ajansspor sports portal and tuttur.com betting site also belong to Sadettin Saran.[6]
Saran is a member of the High Council of Fenerbahçe S.K. with registration number 9945.[7] He took charge in the board as executive of the department of football during the presidency of Aziz Yıldırım.[8] 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.[9]
On 16 December 2021, Saran stated that he would be a candidate for presidency of Fenerbahçe SK in the future.[10]