Massimo Cellino has told Leeds United’s board that he will comply with a Football League directive ordering him to quit as a director within 28 days, but it’s not clear who will run the club while he’s not there.

Il Presidente is preparing yet another appeal against the League’s ruling that his conviction for evading import duty on his yacht means he has failed the ‘owners and directors’ test. This is on the technicality that under Italy’s judicial system he is still considered innocent while his tax case passes through two stages of appeal.

But even though an appeal is in progress, the League have still ordered him to step down within 28 days of the ruling they passed on December 1st. Failure to comply with would have led to a range of penalties against Cellino and the club, so he told the Yorkshire Post that for the time being he is going to go quietly.

“I’m prepared to resign if it’s what I have to do. I said to the other directors that I don’t want to bring any problems on the club so if I have to resign in 28 days and then wait to finish my appeal, I will. I’m fighting this and we think we will win so after the appeal I will be back. But I don’t want to give the League a reason to punish the club. So if I have to go then I’ll go.”

Even if this appeal is unsuccessful, his ban will end on March 18th. next year, when his conviction will be considered to be spent under UK law, although a couple of other similar cases are still pending in Italy and could still cause problems in the future. But when Cellino has stepped down, who will be running the club in the meantime, until such time as he is able to resume control.

In theory Leeds will be in the hands of his family company Eleonora Sport Limited, yet none of his relatives has the same experience of running a large organisation. And Cellino won’t be able to secretly instruct them from behind the scenes, as the League’s rules also apply to ‘shadow directors’, which is anyone without a formal position but who exercises significant influence.

Cellino informed the rest of the board of his intentions at a meeting on Tuesday’s which was attended by GFH representatives Jinesh Patel and Salem Patel, who are both still directors as the Bahraini bankers have retained a 25% stake in the club. They could be left in charge for a couple of months, though that thought doesn’t inspire too much confidence.

The same meeting was due to ratify a £23.5m cash injection and a restructuring of United’s debt, which would have allowed the club to re-purchase Elland Road, but neither GFH nor Cellino has confirmed whether the deal was signed off as planned. The YEP says the paper understands that the investment could be suspended until the outcome of Cellino’s appeal is known.

Still, it could be worse. Elsewhere it’s been reported today that Hereford United have been ‘suspended from all football activity’ by the FA as their current owner has failed to comply with his obligations under the ‘Fit and Proper’ persons test. If that situation is not resolved soon the club could be expelled from their league and must be in danger of being wound up altogether.

That case shows how determined the football authorities are to enforce their new regulations, and at least Cellino has ensured that Leeds have avoided a similar fate by complying with the League’s instructions, even though he continues to fight his corner. It remains to be seen how everything will pan out at Leeds, but at least things will keep ticking over for the time being.

Photo: Action Images

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