Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has been handed a five-match stadium ban by an independent regulatory commission following an incident after his side’s 1-0 defeat to Fulham on September 28.
The charge stemmed from allegations that the Greek businessman’s behaviour around the City Ground tunnel after the match was deemed improper. Despite Marinakis denying the misconduct charge, the independent regulatory commission found him guilty.
As a result, Marinakis has been sanctioned with a five-match stadium ban, meaning he will be unable to attend any Forest games during this period. The Football Association (FA) has confirmed in a statement that the written reasons for the commission’s decision will be released in due course. Forest have said they will appeal Marinakis’ ban.
Forest were unhappy with referee Josh Smith’s decision to award Fulham a 51st-minute penalty from which Raul Jimenez scored what proved to be the winning goal. The hosts also had two appeals for spot-kicks of their own turned down.
The club have previously expressed frustration with officiating decisions impacting their season. Marinakis suggested that “unfair decisions” by referees also hampered their 2023-24 campaign.
He told the BBC in May: “Referee decisions have cost us points and this is something that has been repeated and repeated and what we expect for the Premier League and referees is to correct these mistakes.”
The sanction against Marinakis, who also owns Greek club Olympiacos, follows head coach Nuno Espirito Santo being given a two-match ban for his conduct in Forest’s 2-2 Premier League draw with Brighton & Hove Albion last month.
That has triggered a suspended one-match ban Nuno received for criticising officials after Forest’s 2-0 loss to Everton in April. As a result, he will miss his team’s next three matches, starting with Crystal Palace on Monday night. Nuno was also fined £55,000 for the Brighton incident, where he was sent off following Morgan Gibbs-White’s red card.
Midfielder Gibbs-White, meanwhile, has been handed a one-match ban for his actions following his red card in the game against Brighton. However, the 24-year-old is unlikely to be fit for the upcoming match against Crystal Palace regardless. In addition to the suspension, Gibbs-White has been fined £20,000.
(Michael Steele/Getty Images)
