Agricultural entrepreneur and Cagliari owner Massimo Cellino is seen as the front runner to take Leeds United after the collapse of the Sport Capital bid. But would he be able to pass the Football League’s Owners and Directors Test?
The so-called ‘King of Corn’ has a conviction for fraud. He tried to buy West Ham United in 2010 but was knocked back by the club’s then Icelandic owners amid concern about his criminal background. In 1996 he received a 14-month suspended sentence after being convicted of deceiving the European Union and the Italian Ministry of Agriculture.
Agricultural entrepreneur and Cagliari owner Massimo Cellino is seen as the front runner to take Leeds United after the collapse of the Sport Capital bid. But would he be able to pass the Football League’s Owners and Directors Test?
The so-called ‘King of Corn’ has a conviction for fraud. He tried to buy West Ham United in 2010 but was knocked back by the club’s then Icelandic owners amid concern about his criminal background. In 1996 he received a 14-month suspended sentence after being convicted of deceiving the European Union and the Italian Ministry of Agriculture.
Attempts to make money out of the Common Agricultural Policy by deception are not unknown in Italy. One recalls the herd of cows that were supposed to be housed on the upper floors of an office block in Rome. However, a football-related conviction gives more cause or concern. In 2001 he was given a 15-month suspended sentence for false accounting at Cagliari.
A dispute with the local authority over the ramshackle state of Cagliari’s stadium led them to play their home matches in Trieste, 500 miles away on the other side of Italy, for 18 months.
Leeds fans were less than enthralled by a rejected request by Cellino to place Gianluca Festa, the former Middlesbrough defender, in the dugout at Tuesday’s match with Ipswich. It was seen as an attempt to undermine manager Brian McDermott. In a statement Leeds United Supporters’ Trust said that they were ‘appalled’ at McDermott’s treatment.
Sport Capital reduced their original offer of £50m after concerns arising from the due diligence process. Another consortium led by Michael Farnan, a former director of Manchester United, had an initial bid rejected by GFH last year.