Soccer-Banned Leeds president Cellino will not return

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Leeds United president Massimo Cellino will not return to the English second tier club in April at the end of his Football League ban, the Italian said on Tuesday. The 58-year-old was disqualified from ownership until April 10 by the Football League for failing their "fit and proper person's test" after he was found guilty of tax evasion in an Italian court last year. He had said in January that he planned to resume his role at the club, but now intends to clear his name and fight the legality of his ban. "At first I suggested that my intention was to resume in April the office of President of Leeds United Football Club after expiration of the disqualification term," he said in a statement on the club website (www.leedsunited.com). "I will not do so and I had actually decided not to do so in January already, soon after the confirmation by the Football League of its verdict... "All of the above leads me to reconfirm the decision already reached in January so that I may be free of defending myself as any normal citizen, and I will not hesitate to do so before any authority because of my honesty, my commitment and due care to the club for which I have already invested one year of hard work." Leeds are 11th in the Championship, 10 points above the relegation zone. (Reporting by Toby Davis; editing by Justin Palmer)