ISTANBUL — Ahead of an election on Sunday that could shape the fate of one of Europe’s most storied soccer clubs, the opposition candidate’s supporters packed a hall here. They chanted while waving navy and yellow scarves, anticipating the arrival of the man they hope will shake the organization from the top and restore its crumbled stature.

“Ali Koc reminds me a bit of Clark Kent — like he will rip off his suit and there’ll be a Superman costume underneath,” a fan at the campaign rally, Arif Atilgan, said, referring to the challenger for Fenerbahce team president.

Fenerbahce is widely considered Turkey’s wealthiest, most politically important club, with millions of fans and a history of success. But the team is beleaguered, on and off the field. It may take something of a superhero to unseat the entrenched incumbent, Aziz Yildirim, and divine a resurrection for Fenerbahce.

“Soccer must be renewed from top to bottom,” Koc told the crowd.

Koc, 51, was educated at Harrow boarding school in London and at Harvard. He is a scion of Turkey’s wealthiest family, admired by some for the success of its Fortune 500 conglomerate Koc Holding and as a symbol of Kemalism, the revolutionary ideology that forged a modern secular state.