By Jaroslaw Adamowski
June 27 – American businessman Paul Bragiel is looking at acquiring a stake in Poland’s Slask Wroclaw. The troubled football club is looking for new partners to fill the financial gap left by its previous majority shareholder, the city of Wroclaw.
“I’m in the business of technology. I talked with [Slask’s deputy chief executive Marek] Drabczyk on how we could use this in football,” Bragiel said.
Born to Polish parents who emigrated to the US, Bragiel has founded several companies which are active in the IT sector. Prior to launching talks on becoming a shareholder in Slask, he was reportedly interested in acquiring a stake in rival Polish club Wisla Krakow.
Should Bragiel invest in Slask, the US businessman could become the fifth co-owner of the Wroclaw-based side. This January, the city sold a majority stake in Slask to local companies Hasco-Lek, Supra Invest and Inter-System. The firms purchased a combined 50.63% of the shares, while the municipal authorities of Wroclaw retained the remaining 49.37% of the shares.
Slask currently plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of Poland’s professional football league. The club’s stadium has a capacity of 42,771, and it hosted a number of matches at the UEFA Euro 2012 championships. Slask won the Championship of Poland in 1977 and 2012.
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