Former Leeds United Managing Dir David Haigh Cleared Of Slander

Former League Championship side Leeds United Managing Dir DAVID HAIGH, "who has spent nearly two years in a prison in Dubai," could be about to fly home after being cleared of slander, according to Hannah Lucinda Smith of the LONDON TIMES. Haigh, 38, managing director of the club in the '13-14 season, has been held in the UAE "since being convicted of fraud" in May '14. He was sentenced to "two years’ jail" for stealing items worth £3M from Gulf Finance House, a Bahraini investment bank that part-owns the club. Haigh’s troubles "were compounded when he was also charged with slander after comments about his former employer appeared on his Twitter account" in November, a day before he was due to be set free. He was charged under the UAE’s "cyberslander" laws. He was acquitted of the slander charge on Monday but will "remain in prison while lawyers for GFH decide whether to appeal." IAN MONK, his spokesperson, said that Haigh "now hopes to be reunited with his family in the UK for Easter" (LONDON TIMES, 3/22).