ITALIAN businessman Massimo Cellino's appeal against his disqualification from owning Leeds United is due to be heard today.

Cellino was barred by the Football League's board from being owner and a director of Leeds last month after they ruled that his conviction for tax evasion was a "dishonest act".

Cellino's appeal will be heard by a three-person professional conduct committee chaired by Tim Kerr QC and the outcome is likely to be known next week.

If the Football League's disqualification is upheld, it will mean that 58-year-old Cellino will have to step down as a director – but only until March, when his conviction becomes spent under UK law.

Cellino was fined 600,000 euros (£465,000) by a court in Sardinia last March after being found guilty of failing to pay import duty on his yacht, the Nelie.

Kerr was also the person who allowed Cellino's original appeal back in April on the basis that there were no written reasons available from the court case which would determine whether it was a dishonest act or not.

However, the QC stated in his decision allowing that appeal: "If the reasoned ruling of the court in Cagliari discloses the conduct of Mr Cellino was such it would reasonably be considered to be dishonest, he would be [disqualified]."

The Football League then applied to the court in Cagliari for those written reasons and once they had received them their board took the view that the conviction did constitute a dishonest act and announced he was to be disqualified.

Cellino may try to claim that under Italian law he is still presumed innocent because the appeals process has not been exhausted. The issue with that, however, is that it means he would then be gaining an advantage on any club director dealt with under British law where they are viewed as being guilty after the initial conviction.

The Football League originally said Cellino had to resign as a director of Leeds by December 29 but agreed to defer that deadline until two days after the final decision by the professional conduct committee.

A statement from the league last month said: "As a consequence, the parties have agreed that if Mr Cellino is unsuccessful in his appeal, any disqualification period will be extended by an amount equivalent to the length of time between December 29 and the deferred deadline."

Cellino took over Leeds towards the end of last season and has already fired two managers – Darko Milanic and Dave Hockaday – during this campaign.