Wednesday 21 October 2015 10:11, UK
Leeds owner Massimo Cellino claims he is still running the club despite being banned by the Football League.
The Italian has been suspended from undertaking any ownership or directorship duties at Elland Road for the rest of the season after he was found guilty of failing to pay VAT on an imported vehicle, although Cellino claims the case is not yet finished.
After yet another turbulent few days in his 19-month stewardship, in which he sacked his fifth manager Uwe Rosler and installed Steve Evans, Cellino insisted to Sky Sports News HQ that he will not walk away and will be appealing the Football League ban.
He said: "Why now? Ask the Football League why now, after last year they accepted my appeal for disqualification. I thought it was the end of this kind of thing.
"It is like when you go to trial and they cut your head off before it is finished and you are convicted. My trial in Italy is not finished. I don't have any conviction and I have already paid in England for something I have not been convicted of.
"I respect the legal rules and to be correct, and I don't want to let the club be hurt anymore. My lawyers are going to appeal and if I didn't trust in the law and the rules, I wouldn't appeal. I do it because i think I am right in the end and I am looking for justice.
My lawyers are going to appeal and if I didn't trust in the law and the rules, I wouldn't appeal.
"I am running the club, I will always be running the club and I am still running the club. I pretend that I am innocent and I am confident everything is going to be right."
It is the second time Cellino has been suspended by the Football League after buying the majority share-hold in March 2014. He was disqualified in December 2014 after being found guilty of a similar offence of tax evasion in Italy and returned after a successful appeal in May this year.
A number of Leeds supporters groups have called for Cellino to sell up and leave, with the club's prestigious reputation on the line, but the 59-year-old insists he "only wants to protect the club".
Walking away is the easiest thing to do but I do not think it is the right thing to do for the club.
"I think this club has been hurt too much until now - and I think that we have to start asking a bit more respect, and fight for our right," he said.
"My message to the fans is 'trust and hope'. I hope we start winning some games to feel better and we have the chance to appeal to protect my position and protect the club. That's the best way to complain.
"For the good of the club I can walk away tomorrow, I don't have any problem. I'm not happy, I'm tired and facing new problems every day. It is a complicated club and is not easy to run.
"But walking away is the easiest thing to do but I do not think it is the right thing to do for the club. I am dying to bring this club back to the Premier League."
