Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis has alleged he is the victim of a conspiracy after reports in Greece indicated he, along with others, has been charged with inciting violence and supporting a criminal organisation.
Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported Marinakis is one of over 140 individuals who will stand trial on “misdemeanor” charges of “inciting sports-related violence and supporting a criminal organisation”. The reported charges come after riots in Athens in 2023 in which a policeman died.
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The 31-year-old died after being hit in the leg by a flare during a confrontation between fans of Olympiacos and Panathinaikos.
Kathimerini reports that the judges who ruled on the indictment accused Marinakis, and other Olympiacios executives, of providing “all types of assets and financial means, knowing that by doing so they were facilitating or assisting in the commission of criminal activities by a criminal organization” and regarding the charge of incitement to acts of violence, that by “acting jointly, publicly and through the internet, they provoked and incited others to commit felonies and misdemeanors, thereby endangering public order. Their actions resulted in the commission of crimes and incited citizens to acts of violence against each other, leading to a disturbance of public peace”. Marinakis’ position is that there is no substance to any of these claims.
Should Marinakis be convicted and sentenced to 12 months or more in prison, Premier League rules suggest he may not be permitted to stay in his position as Forest’s owner.
The owners’ and directors’ Test (OADT) section of the Premier League handbook states “a person shall be disqualified from acting as a director” if they “have a conviction (which is not a spent conviction) imposed by a court of the United Kingdom or a competent court of foreign jurisdiction … in respect of which an unsuspended sentence of at least 12 months’ imprisonment was imposed … in respect of any offence involving any act which could reasonably be considered: to be dishonest (and, for the avoidance of doubt, irrespective of the actual sentence imposed); to have involved violence”.
The Premier League and Nottingham Forest have been contacted by The Athletic for comment. Forest officials’ views are that the allegations have been misreported and that there is no substance to the matter.
Marinakis’ Olympiacos won the Conference League last May (Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images)
In a statement published by Olympiacos, seemingly responding to news of the charges, Marinakis accused Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the “scandalously favoured media cronies” of “blackmail” and attempting to “gag” him and “compromise my independence” by “weaponizing the justice system”.
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The Athletic has contacted Mitsotakis’ office for comment.
“Similar attempts have been made unsuccessfully in the past by political and financial interests, but their fabricated cases have always collapsed spectacularly,” Marinakis added. “The evidence is overwhelming: the real victim in this case is justice and its institutions.”
The statement concluded: “My message is this, and it is clear: I am not afraid, I will not be blackmailed, I will not negotiate, I will not back down, I will not submit. The truth will come out. Democracy will prevail. Ultimately, we will prevail (as we always do).”
The English version of the statement, which The Athletic has record of, was later taken down, but a Greek version remained live on Olympiacos’ website at the time of publication.
In November, Olympiacos labelled an investigation, which led to these charges, into Marinakis and other club executives as “blackmail” and “fuelled by political interests”.
The Greek club acknowledged that there was an “investigation into alleged misdemeanour” by members of the club’s hierarchy.
(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
