Friday 3 April 2015 14:16, UK
Leeds United president Massimo Cellino will return to the club in May after his Football League ban expires, chairman Andrew Umbers has told Sky Sports.
The 58-year-old Italian was disqualified from owning the Championship club in December after the Football League were given documents from an Italian court which had found Cellino guilty of tax evasion.
The Football League said Cellino had failed to pass its “fit and proper person” ownership test and disqualified him from running the Championship club.
After all disciplinary proceedings had been settled, the League then announced he would be able to return to the club from May 3.
After failing in his initial appeal, however, Cellino had said he “would not return” to the club when his ban ended. The former Cagliari owner appears to have changed his mind, with Leeds chairman Andrew Umbers confirming Cellino was scheduled to return.
“Massimo Cellino cannot wait to come back and will be present at our end-of-season player dinner in early May,” Umbers told Sky Sports.
Umbers also confirmed that the club was not for sale and that it intended to buy players once the transfer embargo was lifted at the end of the season. This ban was enacted in December after the Whites failed to meet the League’s Financial Fair Play requirements.
The turbulence continued at Leeds United with the announcement that assistant coach Steve Thompson had been suspended, with the club announcing it was an “internal issue” on which they would make no further comment.
The departure of his assistant has left head coach Neil Redfearn unsure about his future at the club but Umbers said the decision to dismiss Thompson had been a necessary one.
“As a club, we have to make professional decisions. These may be unpopular and we, the board may be berated by the press and fans,” Thompson said. “It goes with the turf sometimes but they are the right decisions.”
Leeds are currently sitting in 13th in the Championship and will play Blackburn on Saturday.
