Massimo Cellino case at Leeds United exposes frailty of fit and proper test

The protracted disqualification of Cellino under the League’s fit and proper person test has caused resentment and aroused suspicion among fans

• Cellino barred as Leeds owner after losing appeal

Given supporters’ many dissatisfactions with the new generation of owners buying historic clubs as personal investments, it should feel like a victory that the Football League has asserted its rules and barred Massimo Cellino from owning Leeds due to his criminal conviction for dishonesty.

Cellino, a multimillionaire mostly resident in Miami from where he runs his family’s flour firm, and Leeds also face a further misconduct charge for refusing to give the League a copy of the written reasons for his conviction in Sardinia. In them, the League’s professional conduct committee has finally confirmed, the judge in Cagliari, Sandra Lepore, found he evaded tax on his yacht, the Nelie, with “macchiavellica simulazione” and “intento elusivo”.

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from Football | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1GnJcuy