The English Football League (EFL) blocked Massimo Cellino from taking control of second-tier Leeds United on Monday after the Italian was fined for failing to pay tax.

Cellino, president of Italian Serie A club Cagliari, had agreed to buy a 75 percent stake in former English champions Leeds but the deal was conditional on clearance by the Football League.

Cellino was fined 600,000 euros last week by an Italian court for failing to pay import duties on a yacht.

Cellino has 14 days to appeal against the Football League decision which again throws the ownership of Leeds into confusion.