Spanish Second Division Side Eibar Ramps Up Efforts To Increase Capital To $2.3M

Spanish second division side Eibar has raised €382,570 ($524,500), just 22.19% of the capital increase required by Spain's Superior Sports Council, after selling club shares "exclusively to current shareholders for a month," according to Aritz Arce of AS. The club will be relegated for not meeting the minimum budget required by law "if it does not raise" at least €1.7M ($2.4M) by Aug. 6. Shares "can now be bought by anyone." Eibar President Álex Aranzabal said, "There is no plan B. We still need one thousand people to contribute €1,000 ($1,400) and if we do not reach this objective, we will be relegated." Aranzabal held a meeting in San Sebastián, Spain with businessmen, with a "platform to support the club in this process emerging with the primary objective of speeding up the purchase of shares to reach the required sum" of €1.7M. Eibar execs "will head to Bilbao and Madrid to hold similar meetings in the next few days" (AS, 5/14).