Massimo Cellino can go ahead with his takeover of Leeds United after he won his appeal against the Football League’s ruling that he had failed the owners’ and directors’ test. The independent QC hearing the appeal ruled that his conviction in a Sardinian court for not paying tax on a luxury yacht he imported from the United States could not be reasonably considered dishonest.
Massimo Cellino can go ahead with his takeover of Leeds United after he won his appeal against the Football League’s ruling that he had failed the owners’ and directors’ test. The independent QC hearing the appeal ruled that his conviction in a Sardinian court for not paying tax on a luxury yacht he imported from the United States could not be reasonably considered dishonest.
The decision is an embarrassment for the Football League and leaves the successor to the fit and proper person test in tatters. They said they were disappointed by the decision and were considering their next move. However, it is difficult to see how they could now block the takeover.
As the Italian court judgment has not yet been published, journalist David Conn has raised the possibility that it could find Cellino to have been dishonest and he would then subsequently be barred. However, this strikes me as a rather unlikely scenario.