October 20 – One of England’s most iconic clubs is back in the news for all the wrong reasons with Leeds United’s Italian owner Massimo Cellino banned for the rest of this season from being an owner or director of the club, following his conviction for tax evasion back home.
The ban, until June 2016, was ironically announced by the Football League on the same day Cellino reverted to type by sacking Uwe Rösler, the fifth manager he has got rid of since taking over 18 months ago.
Cellino has split opinion among Leeds fans with some praising his investment in the Championship club and desire for success and others shaking their heads in dismay at how he goes about it and his alarming impatience.
Rösler was fired after only 12 games in charge while Cellino, who has already been banned once, has until October 28 to appeal his latest sanction which has plunged Leeds into total disarray for the umpteenth time.
The Leeds United Supporters Trust has called on Cellino and the minority shareholder Gulf Finance House to consider their future if it is in the club’s best interests.
“The trust believes Leeds supporters have suffered enough over the years and therefore asks that Massimo Cellino brings clarity and honesty to any public statements on the immediate future and considers the supporters’ need for a stable club at all times in how he deals with this latest ban,” a statement said.
“If, and the case grows daily, it is in the best interests of Leeds United supporters, he and GFH should sell, we call on them both to do so with efficiency.”
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