Toronto Wolfpack co-founder Eric Perez has been named interim chairman of the Bradford Bulls rugby league club.
The appointment is part of a sale of the financially troubled club.
Perez said his appointment is temporary and will not affect his plan to bring a separate franchise to Ottawa. Perez was part of a consortium that bought the Hemel Stags in order to take the team to the Canadian capital.
"It's an honour to be working with an iconic brand like the Bradford Bulls," Perez, a Toronto native, said in a statement. "I am here on an interim basis to facilitate the transition between the new ownership and the old regime.
"I have been given special dispensation from the RFL (Rugby Football League) to take on the interim chairmanship as Hemel is dormant for the 2020 season, and this in no way undermines the Ottawa club that is slated to enter League 1 in 2021."
Bradford finished sixth in the second-tier Championship in 2019 with a 16-10-1 record. A storied team with a long history, the Bulls have fallen on hard financial times recently.
The RFL, rugby league's governing body, placed the team in "special measures" in August, restricting the value, duration and type of playing contracts the club could enter into. The restriction on signing players has now been lifted.
Like the Wolfpack, Ottawa plans to begin plan in the third-tier League 1. Toronto which began play in 2017, won promotion to the top-tier Super League this season.
Perez has been focusing on the Ottawa franchise in recent months.
The Telegraph & Argus, a Bradford newspaper, says the consortium taking over the Bulls includes the family of Nigel Wood, chief executive of the Rugby League International Federation, and Dewsbury Rams chairman Mark Sawyer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2019.
The Canadian Press