19 Facts About Rodolphe Seeldrayers

Rodolphe William Seeldrayers was a Belgian football administrator who was the fourth President of FIFA, serving from 1954 to 1955.

Rodolphe Seeldrayers was actively involved in the official associations of Belgium sports.

Rodolphe Seeldrayers was later elected as a member of honour.

In 1899 Rodolphe Seeldrayers began a career as a sports journalist with the magazine "La vie sportive", writing a column under the pen name Spectator.

Rodolphe Seeldrayers became head of the committee beginning in 1946, succeeding Prince Albert de Ligne.

Rodolphe Seeldrayers was most notable in this role at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, when during the Peru vs Austria game spectators invaded the pitch which provoked an appeals jury consultation.

Rodolphe Seeldrayers received the official Czechoslovak complaint following the abandoned 1920 Olympic Final, which had been refereed by John Lewis.

Rodolphe Seeldrayers ended this aspect of his career in 1935 while still continuing to publish articles and making his opinions known in the columns of the Bulletins of the International Olympic Committee.

Debates raged and a Commission on Amateurism was created, supported by the International Olympic Committee, which Rodolphe Seeldrayers took part in.

Under his presidency of FIFA, Rodolphe Seeldrayers faced another problem: FIFA was reproached for having given permission for "false" amateurs to participate in a Helsinki tournament, even though a definition of amateurism had been introduced in its by-laws by Rodolphe Seeldrayers himself, vice president of the federation at the time.

Aware of the significance of this problem, Rodolphe Seeldrayers remained faithful to his view of the sport.

Rodolphe Seeldrayers considered the criticisms flawed, and over time, his opinion didn't improve.

Rodolphe Seeldrayers believed that it was the duty of the press to teach the spectator.

Rodolphe Seeldrayers died a year after his election as president of FIFA, on 7 October 1955, due to illness, and received a semi-official funeral, following a governmental decision.

Rodolphe Seeldrayers was posthumously elected a member of the IOC.

Rodolphe Seeldrayers was a very accomplished sportsman, evidenced by the many sports in which he competed.

Rodolphe Seeldrayers was the Belgian 110 metre hurdles champion in 1897, and he competed as a hurdler for ten years.

Rodolphe Seeldrayers was the Belgium Division of Honour champion with the Racing-Club of Brussels' team in 1900, and captain of the university team of Brussels in 1898 and 1899.

Rodolphe Seeldrayers played golf from 1919 onward in the Waterloo Golf Club where he was captain for ten years.