“Every difficult time teaches a person to improve.”
Few people give that comment more credence than Sir Mohamed Mansour, the Egyptian billionaire and owner of MLS’s San Diego FC. He said that recently at our Business of Soccer conference, a rare public appearance where he took the stage and, through his understated charisma, delivered one of the most powerful personal stories I can recall.
An audience fully expecting the typical comments of a wealthy team owner was instead inspired by a tale of true strength, resilience and gratitude from a global business titan who has a true love of America. Onstage, Mansour sat simply and talked about growing up in a wealthy Egyptian family with a love of soccer, as his uncle played for the national team. “Soccer, and sports, is in our blood,” he told a standing-room-only audience in the club level at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
But his lavish life was anything but easy: He experienced his first difficult challenge at 10, when he was seriously injured after being hit by a car. “I was deprived of everything I wanted, which is the passion of sport, because I was a good football player, runner, swimmer, tennis player, and I was in bed for three years,” he said in a firm, yet sad, reflective tone. “Can you imagine?” With the severity of his injuries, doctors wanted to amputate his leg, but the young Mansour pleaded with his parents, who would be by his bed, “‘Please, no! Please, you can’t,’” he remembered. “And I lived through it. I stayed in bed for three years.”
He described being in a full-body cast and how he was forced to sleep by sitting and leaning forward into the palms of his hands, almost like Rodin’s “The Thinker,” unable to lay down or sleep on his side. His friends visited him shortly after the accident, but quickly stopped, and he felt alone. “So, I read American comic books — Batman, Superman, everything. I read a lot and studied.” The isolation and confinement made him stronger. “I told myself, ‘If you have the willpower, you can continue,’” he remembered.
With an admiration for America, he left Egypt, enrolling at N.C. State at 15. While at college, a revolution ripped through his home country and his well-to-do family was stripped of its wealth. Instead of getting $200 checks from home, the funding stopped and the 16-year-old went to work at a local restaurant as a waiter, earning paltry tips. “I learned the value of money during that period,” he said. “‘Mo The Waiter’ learned the value of money and hard work.”
At the age of 20, Mansour faced another hardship when he was diagnosed with cancer. “This was back in 1968. You can imagine, that was the big ‘C’ then. It meant death,” he said. But he again cited his resilience, strength and great medical care, exclaiming, “Here I am today at 78!”, which drew widespread applause.
Mansour’s story is amazing: He got his degree in textiles at N.C. State, received his MBA at Auburn and ended up going back to Egypt to eventually build a global conglomerate around the automotive, supplies and logistic sectors. He worked for the Egyptian government and was knighted in 2023. His love of soccer led him to acquire the global football academy Right To Dream, and launch San Diego FC with the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation tribe in 2023. Right To Dream is its own amazing story, which I first wrote about in 2017, as it develops top-tier soccer talent while offering a full education and character development. With academies around the world, he opened a Right To Dream Academy in San Diego. “Our first class has 18 kids, and they are amazing,” he said. He is not done, as his vision is to build 100 soccer pitches and train 100 coaches for the underserved areas of the city. “This will be from my budget every year, so that soccer is ingrained more and more in the community,” he said. “I’m starting something in San Diego because I love San Diego.”
On this day in Atlanta, attendees heard from an elegant, distinguished global statesman, who listens more than he talks. Knighthood is fitting, as Sir Mohamed has a natural warmth, and a stature which draws everyone’s attention. Spending his formative years — from 15 years old to 25 — in America, he isn’t shy about his admiration for this country’s spirit. “I always believed in America,” he beamed, proudly. “America always has the positive way of getting things done.” He also is a massive boost to the sport of soccer, as his love of the game pervades his thinking and actions. Mansour brought it all full circle when he shared how he returned to N.C. State in 2022 to give the commencement speech and receive an honorary doctorate. “I got up and said, ‘Everybody has a chance in life.’ It was very touching for me, and I was so honored and so humbled.”
Mansour’s mantra of resilience should inspire us all, as every difficult time teaches a person to grow.
Abraham Madkour can be reached at amadkour@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
