05:16 PM Monday 06 May 2024
Photography – Hossam Diab:
For about 60 years, Captain Saleh Selim lived within the Al-Ahly club, since he joined the youth team in 1944. His star rose quickly. His skill placed him among the team’s top players. His love for the red “t-shirt” gave him the love of the fans to become an unrepeatable legend in Al-Ahly club. After his retirement in 1967, he took his path as a football manager and then an administrator until he headed the board of directors, raising the slogan “Al-Ahly is above all.” That glorious career overshadowed another hobby that forced it to disappear for many decades before it returned in his last years before his death, which was monitored by photojournalist Hossam Diab. “In a rare photo of Saleh Slim, we publish it in conjunction with the 22nd anniversary of his passing.
Saleh Salim was not inclined to study during his childhood and youth, “I did not like to hold a book, and I was not very interested in studying,” as Salim mentioned in a radio interview. He spent most of the time with his two brothers, “Abdul Wahab” and “Tariq,” playing football, in addition to his hobby that is close to his heart.” I used to love drawing very much, and I was able to find time to draw a lot.” His father, the famous anesthesiologist, “Mohamed Selim,” discovered this hobby. He realized that the son might become a famous painter due to his intense interest in the matter, but his destination quickly changed as soon as he entered the Al-Ahly Club gate and put on the “t-shirt.” Al-Hamra, who was still 14 years old, said: “When I started playing football, I reduced my drawing and, little by little, stopped drawing at all.”
After many decades of playing and working in the administration at Al-Ahly Club, the photojournalist “Diab” wanted to conduct a dialogue with Saleh Selim in 1991. He had known him well for many years, and they had fleeting meetings “during the elections in which I was going to the club,” but they never spoke until The opportunity came. “I made an appointment for the interview and we agreed to meet in his office.” At the agreed upon time, Diab arrived in the Bulaq Abu Al-Ala area. He approached an old building, carrying his camera. He climbed the stairs until he reached “Salim’s” office to find him waiting.
The session lasted for a long time, during which “Salim” talked about his career and many things, “I felt that we had known each other for a long time, and I told him that people thought you were Saddam and were afraid that he would get close to you.” He laughed at the time, confirming that it was a wrong perception, before revealing that he had returned to his favorite hobby, “He returned to drawing again.” I found him entering the room in which he was painting again.” When the Al-Ahly star picked up the brush, he was busy coloring his painting with enthusiasm and childish joy. He was immersed in a world that had missed him for many years. Diab did not let the scene escape his lens. He took several pictures for Saleem while he was immersed in the world of painting.
The relationship between Diab and Selim strengthened, and over the years the photojournalist documented many distinctive scenes in the life of the Al-Ahly legend. “More than once we went to his home in Zamalek, with the journalist friend Yasser Ayoub, and we photographed him many times.” But he never forgets that happiness that appeared on his face. When he was drawing, this was a hobby that Saleh Slim did not talk about much, as it was another side of the maestro away from the world of football and its noise.
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