Mawhinney has consulted senior legal advisors over the extent to which any decisions could be challenged in the courts. "We need to have legal clarity if somebody is in difficulty with a different sporting organisation as to what exactly the nature of that difficulty is before we try to apply our regulations," he said. "I have taken leading counsel's advice, so we will be going into the board meeting with the benefit of that advice."
If an individual fails the fit and proper person test, the club would be given a deadline with which to comply with the rules or face being thrown out of the league.
The ownership of Leeds United will be discussed, too. The ultimate ownership of the club through the offshore Forward Sports Fund vehicle has been cast into doubt by the statement of their chairman, Ken Bates, that he had made an "error" in saying that he and Patrick Murrin were the sole shareholders in the company.
Comment