Former Świt Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki president Wojciech Szymański dies at 68

Death announced by former club

MKS Świt Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki announced the death of Wojciech Szymański, who was 68, in a Facebook post reported by Polish outlets from 8 October. The club described him as its former president, the owner of the Lukullus company and a sponsor with a lasting place in its history. Szymański first backed Świt financially as a sponsor before taking over as club president in 1998. The cause of death has not been made public. The club's statement read:

With deep regret we bid farewell to Wojciech Szymański, former president of MKS Świt Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, owner of the Lukullus company, sponsor and a man who wrote himself into the history of our club.

From family butchers to club president

Szymański came from Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, where he ran a butcher business with his father before the economic transformation allowed him to open the Lukullus company. Under his presidency Świt climbed the league ladder, but sources differ on when it reached the top flight. Sportowe Fakty and Polsat Sport place the promotion in the 2002/2003 season, to what was then the first league. RMF24 instead says the club reached the Ekstraklasa under him and played there in the 2003/2004 season. Wprost listed him among Poland's richest people in 2004, estimating his and his wife's wealth at 55 million zloty. He was also a co-owner of Widzew Łódź, which Sportowe Fakty says he joined as a shareholder in 2007, and he supported cycling teams.

Bribery conviction and regret

In 2017 Szymański was sentenced to four years in prison, suspended for five years, for bribing referees, and he admitted the charge. The sentence also included a fine. Sportowe Fakty linked his name to investigations into irregularities in Polish football and to the 2003 play-off affair in Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki. Przegląd Sportowy wrote that he left sport in an atmosphere of scandal. In an interview with Przegląd Sportowy a year earlier, he expressed regret for his actions:

I lost badly. Me, my family, damage to our name.

Tributes and cause of death

The club's board, players, coaching staff and employees sent condolences to the family, according to Sportowe Fakty. The club's Facebook post extended its condolences to his family, relatives and friends. In a further Facebook message, the club wrote:

Today what remains for us above all is the memory of a man who had a part in the most important chapters of the history of Świt Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki.

Polsat Sport reported that the cause of death had not been made public.